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Dixon Edwards 




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"Doing" or "Done" 



BEING A SERIES OF 
GOSPEL ADDRESSES 



By Dixon Edwards 



u For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of your- 
selves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest 
any man should boast " — Eph. 2: 8,9. 



* 




NEW YORK 

Loizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot 

1 East 13th Street 



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Copyright, 1918, 
By LOIZEA UX BROTHERS 



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©CLA4 97693 
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CONTENTS 

Page 

The Way of Cain and the Faith of Abel ... 5 

Forgiveness of Sins 22 

§ Trumpets 39 

Judgment 55 

The Blood 77 

The Father's Heart 94 

Justification 112 



THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 



11 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than 
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God 
testifying of his gifts " (Heb. 11 : 4). 

IN God's sight man is a moral ruin, a sinner with 
a corrupt nature, and the only way of return to 
God is by "the more excellent sacrifice." We learn 
this in the history of Cain and Abel. They were 
born outside of Eden, the paradise on earth; both 
were, in the words of the Psalmist, "conceived in 
sin and shapen in iniquity; "* both were sinners by 
constitution, as springing from fallen parents. 2 In 
a word, we see in these two men an exemplifica- 
tion of the truth, 

"there is no difference." 3 

Mark well, these men were born outside of Eden, 
where God had placed Adam and Eve. They fell, 
being disobedient to God — transgressing His dis- 
tinct command. God then clothed them with skins, 
and drove them out of the garden ; and when thus 
outside, their family was born to them. Now, just 
as with the two sons before us, so with the whole 
human race. All have descended from the first 
Adam; all have sinned, and all are separated from 
God. There is not one solitary exception to this ; 
for all are sinners, and as such are lost. This is 

1 Ps. 51: 5. 2 Kom. 5 ; 19. 3 Kom. 3 ; 22. 



6 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

where the world stands. The most moral, the most 
benevolent, the kindest person, is a sinner — has in 
him the nature of sin the same as the drunkard, the 
swearer, the outcast of society. Yes, from its high- 
est and most refined levels to its lowest and most 
debased, all, in whatever circle they move, whether 
rich or poor, high or low, have in them this nature 
of sin, and in this respect, " there is no difference, 
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of 
God." 1 There are but 

TWO CLASSES OF PEOPLE 

here to-night, and only two in the world — the lost 
and the saved. All out of Christ compose the for- 
mer, and all in Christ make up the latter. My 
hearers, to which do you belong ? The children of 
God are the saved ; the children of wrath are the 
lost. Which are you — a child of God or a child of 
wrath ? How plain it is then that you must be born 
again in order to enter the kingdom of God. 2 Have 
you been born again ? 

Let us go back to Cain's boyhood. Doubtless, as 
a good mother would, Eve would take Cain upon 
her knees and instruct him in the things of eter- 
nity. Cannot you imagine her saying : * ' Cain, 
come, my boy." Fondly caressing him, she be- 
gins: "A few years ago, my child, your father and 
I were placed in the Garden of Eden. There God 
had given us a command — we were forbidden to eat 
of one tree — the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil, which was in it. We broke this command; 
we sinned against God, and thus sin entered into 

^om. 3: 22, 23. 2 John 3: 7. 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 7 

this fair and beautiful world; and death comes by- 
sin. But the Lord God, after our fall, made us 
coats of skin and clothed us with them ; and by this 
He taught us that it is through the death of a sub- 
stitute only that we can have a covering to fit us 
for His holy presence ; and that by having such a 
robe, we, even we, who through our sin have lost 
a lovely paradise on earth, can yet be in a far 
brighter paradise in heaven, to enjoy there God's 
company for ever. You see, Cain, God taught us 
that He had placed the death of a substitute be- 
tween Himself in His holiness and ourselves in our 
ruin, as that only could meet His righteous claims 
against us, and our deep need as sinners. Then, 
my boy, your father and I were driven out of the 
Garden ; it was after this you were born, and then 
Abel your brother, and you are sinners as our- 
selves — both of you. There is no difference as to 
your state of sin before Him. Both of you have a 
sinful nature from your birth." 

The mother ceases, and Cain goes, as boys do, to 
his play and pastimes. Years roll on, and the boys 
have passed into manhood. Let us visit Cain, who 
is grown up. We reach his dwelling. He is a til- 
ler of the ground, an agriculturist, as we observe 
by his horny hands ; his brow, we notice, is sun- 
burnt. Evidently he is a man who has toiled in 
the burden and heat of the day. Perhaps we notice 
a sober, thoughtful expression upon his counten- 
ance. Let us ask him: "Cain, is anything troub- 
ling you?" He replies, "Yes; last night, when I 
had retired to rest, I began to think more soberly 
than hitherto ; I thought of God, of His holiness, 



S THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

His majesty, and then my mind reverted to what 
my dear old mother in bygone days used to tell me 
concerning Eden and my parents' fall; and then I 
thought of my own state before God." 

"But Cain," we ask, "why should that trouble 
you ? " "Oh," he replies, "how shall I be able to 
meet a holy God ? " My hearers, have you ever 
been in the same anxiety ? God is infinitely holy, 
and you are a sinner. No wonder that Cain was 
troubled. 

ARE YOU TROUBLED ? 

Let us suppose we revisit Cain another day, to 
see if his trouble is over. We find him still de- 
pressed. A thought strikes him; he wends his way 
to his field with a sickle in his hand to the standing 
grain. He puts in his sickle, and a sheaf is reaped. 
He returns to his dwelling. Outside of it he builds 
an altar of stone; he kindles a fire, and places the 
beautiful sheaf upon the altar; then kneeling down, 
he looks up to heaven and says: "I have brought 
Thee, O God, this offering; accept me, O God, ac- 
cept me, because of my offering." Then, methinks 
I hear a still small voice saying to Cain: "Cain, 
I cannot have respect to thee and to thine offer- 
ing. No, Cain, I cannot." 

Let us once more speak to the rejected man : 
"Cain, have you toiled hard for this offering?" 
"Yes." "Have you sweat in the noon-day heat 
for it ? " " Yes." "And won't God accept you ? " 
"No," he replies; and adds, "It is the best I had, 
the very best sheaf I could get, and now God re- 
fuses it." 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 9 

Do you know, my hearers, what Cain was ? He 
was the 

FIRST UNITARIAN, 

He left out death; he omitted the blood-shedding 
of a substitute. What was it his mother had told 
him ? Had she not taught him that he could not 
meet with God in peace unless death were placed 
between God and his soul ? There was no death 
in that sheaf of wheat. True, he worked for it; 
true, he labored for it. But there was no blood 
shed in Cain's offering, and God said, "Cain, it will 
not do." Oh, how angry Cain got! And that is 
just the way many people are in to-day — just the 
way, perhaps, of some here. 

In my travels I have met many curious people. 
The most curious is a woman who is too good for 
Christ; she is here to-night. She is moral, cul- 
tured, benevolent, a good mother and a loving 
wife ; but she is 

TOO GOOD FOR JESUS. 

Woman, is it you ? Moralist, is it you ? Sunday- 
school teacher, is it you ? Preacher,'church deacon, 
teetotaller, art thou too good for the Saviour ? Art 
thou the man ? Too good for Christ ! I will tell 
you what I have never discovered yet — a man or 
woman, youth or maiden, too bad for the Son of 
God — no, not one ! If heaven itself were to visit 
this earth, and look from north to south, and east 
to west, it could not discover one sinner in this 
wide world too sinful for God's Son to save and to 
bless. Alas, there are many too good for Jesus ! 
and maybe one sits before me to-night. But you 



10 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

say, " No, no; I am not too good for Christ, but I 
want to win God's favor, and I am really doing my 
best to obtain it." My dear hearer, you are follow- 
ing in the way of Cain when you talk about doing 
your best. You have never yet learned that you 

are 

lost ! 

notwithstanding all your works, your self-sacrifice, 
and your good deeds. Doing your best, indeed ! 
Why, you are doing your best to go to perdition in 
trusting to your works, like Cain. But you say, 
4 'What is to be done ? " Well, I say, you have done 
far too much ! Cease doing what you are doing, 
viz. , following your own way, instead of turning to 
the Saviour. 

A little time ago, after a gospel meeting, an aged 
man — a church member and an office-bearer — came 
up to me, and with tears in his eyes, he said, " I 
could not go home to-night without telling you that 
I have been 

A CHURCH MEMBER FOR FORTY YEARS, 

but I never knew Christ as my Saviour until to- 
night." 

Near him stood his wife. " Madam," I asked, 
" and what about you?" Between her tears, she 
said, "As with my husband, so it has been with 
me. but God has saved me to-night." Who are 
those who go "in the way of Cain ? Those who 
think they will reach heaven by what they can do. 
Ah, my hearers, if you did your level best, if you 
said prayers until they piled up to the sky, if you 
wept until you made a river of tears, if you were 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 11 

the most outwardly moral being, and yet had not 
Christ, you would still be 

FOLLOWING IN THE WAY OF CAIN. 

Your works, unconverted man, are dead until you 
have trusted the one atoning sacrifice of Christ. 
His redemption work alone can save you. 'Tis all of 
grace. 1 In Cain's history, can you not read your 
own ? Though he believed God to be holy, yet he 
knew not the brightness of that holiness ; and 
though he may have partly believed in his own sin- 
nership, yet he was wilfully ignorant of the utter 
debasement of his nature ; there was no acknowl- 
edgment of his utterly ruined moral state before 
God. You, scoffer, you laugh at me, saying, " What 
a fool the fellow is! We are in the 20th century, 
my dear sir. The address you are giving is played 
out. We are civilized; we are educated, cultured, 
religionized ; and you are preaching out-of-date 
doctrine. It is too old — too ancient." 

Skeptic, lend me your ear for a moment. The 
world, which you extol as being better, has grown 
worse than when Jesus was here. Why, 1900 years 
ago it murdered Christ in cold blood ; has it ever 
repented of that act ? 

I believe at the time of the Indian Mutiny, a 

DAY OF NATIONAL HUMILIATION 

was ordered in Great Britain. Men and women 
who, perhaps, never before cried to God, did so on 
that day, as they thought of outraged and murdered 
women and children, and massacred officers and 
^ph. 2:8. 



12 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

men. Yes, people then humbled themselves in a 
way they perhaps never did before. But the world! 
Has it ever appointed a day of universal humilia- 
tion for its treatment of God's beloved Son ? The 
world ! Its hands are red with the blood of Jesus, 
and it has never yet humbled itself for its insult 
to God and the murder of His Son, nor repented of 
its act. That is the 20th century world. 

Come to the cemetery with me, young man. 
Show me your mother's tomb. There it is, and her 
favorite text inscribed upon the headstone. As I 
stand there, you say, "If ever a fellow had a good 
mother, I had one." I produce from my pocket one 
of the world's latest comic songs, and taking my 
stand upon the tomb, I begin singing it. What 
would you do, young man ? Methinks you would 
strike me down, saying, "How dare you act in such 
a revolting manner! " But do you worldlings know 
what you are doing ? You are singing your comic 
songs upon the tomb of Jesus. That worldly young 
lady sings and dances on the tomb of the Saviour, 
and what does God say ? " You insult Me and my 
Son." Ah, that is the world. Do you belong to it? 
You say to me, " Don't you belong to it ? " No! ten 
thousand times, no! I belonged to it once, but God 
has saved me and delivered me from it, and said: 
"There — you do not belong to it any more." Nor 
does any Christian. Thank God, Christian hearer, 
you are 

But there is another thing Cain did — he mur- 
dered the very man who offered the right kind of 
1 John 17; 14. 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 13 

sacrifice. Now, do not be surprised at the charge 
I bring against you worldlings. Witness, ye heav- 
ens! Witness, O earth! I charge the unsaved here 
with 

THE MURDER OF THE MAN 

who offered the acceptable sacrifice. 1 Who was 
that ? It was Jesus. Yes, Cain murdered Abel, and 
the world has murdered Christ. O sinners ! you 
are part and parcel of that world; and each time 
you reject the Lord of glory, it is as though you 
heartily concurred in that awful act of the murder 
at Calvary. Now, what will you do to-night ? Let 
me persuade you to bow down before God, to own 
your guilt to Him, and to confess the world-rejected 
Christ as your own precious Saviour and Friend. 

And now, let us learn something from Abel. He 
also would doubtless have heard from his parents 
the story that Cain had listened to. He grows up 
side by side with Cain, and advances into manhood. 
Let us pay him a visit. We find him on his way to 
his flock. He builds an altar, seizes a lamb, kills 
it, and places the lamb upon the fire. Perfect and 
spotless, the animal seemed to be the best of the 
flock. Kneeling down, casting his eyes upon the 
smoking sacrifice, he smites his breast as the pub- 
lican in the New Testament, and says, "God be 
merciful to me a sinner." 2 A voice reaches him 
from heaven — the voice of God — saying, "Accepted, 
Abel, accepted. I have respect to thee and to 
thine offering; I accept thee on the ground of thy 
sacrifice. ,, My hearers, do you understand this ? 

1 Acts 3 ; 14, 15. 2 Luke 18 : 13. 



14 THE WAY OP CAIN, AND 

Abel has in faith offered the right offering. He 
has placed death between his soul and God, as that 
which alone can satisfy the claims of God's holiness 
and meet the sinner's need. He has set the victim 
lamb between his sins and God ; he has, in faith, I 
say, put the lamb upon the altar — faith that saw in 
that sacrifice a type of the Eternal Sacrifice of the 
Cross — it looked forward to Calvary; and God ac- 
cepts the sacrifice, and receives Abel on the ground 
of it— on that ground alone. Cannot you learn in 
that the way to be saved ? It is so simple ! The lamb 
died for Abel, Jesus died for sinners. That is God's 
way of salvation. Mark well this, that in Cain's 
offering there was no blood shed, in Abel's there 
was. In Cain's offering there was no death, in 
Abel's there was death. Cain did not acknowledge 
that because of sin he was 

UNDER THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 

Abel owned it, and placed the life of another in his 
stead upon the altar, and God accepted that life, 
the life of the lamb, for Abel. How simple ! That 
is the way of salvation for you. If you only get 
down before God as a guilty sinner, owning that 
you can do nothing : that you are lost, that you are 
ruined; but pleading the death of Jesus — the very 
moment you do that y God will receive you and save 
you for ever. 

Let us dwell a little longer upon this. Somebody 
might be saying, "Well, I see now the difference 
between the two offerings. In the case of Cain 
there was no death, and in the case of Abel there 
was death, and that made all the difference. And 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 15 

I see that my works will not do, but that Christ's 
death will do." Now, if you want to be saved to- 
night, and you come to God, and say: "O God, 
I'm a sinner, but in faith I bring the death of Thy 
dear Son to Thee. I have no other plea than this, 
that Jesus died for sinners, and therefore for me" 
What will God do ? Blessed be His name, He will 
receive you on the spot, because of the value of the 
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Yes, it is due to 
Christ, due to His sacrifice, that all who plead it 
before God should be accepted according to the 
value of that sacrifice. This is God's way of salva- 
tion. 

Now, why should you not be saved at this mo- 
ment ? Oh, come as a sinner to God, confessing to 
Him your guilt and your need of Jesus. Plead 
Christ's death for you, and God will receive you 
in the 

VALUE WHICH THAT DEATH HAS TO HIM. 

Let us now see what the value of the death of 
Jesus is. Suppose that you have a city office. To- 
morrow morning you say to your clerk, " Smith, 
take this check to the bank; "and you put it in a 
cash bag, which you hand to him. He says, "What 
is the amount ? " You say, "Oh, never mind, take 
it to the bank, and the banker will pay you in 
cash." Off he goes, and on his way he says to him- 
self, "Perhaps it is a check for $100." A little 
after, "Perhaps it is a check for $300," and when 
he reaches the bank, "Maybe it is for $500." Com- 
ing into the bank, he hands the bag to the banker, 
who withdraws the check, looks at it for a moment, 



16 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

and then pays the clerk $1000. Now, how is it the 
banker cashed the check to that extent ? The 
clerk's estimate had gone up to $500, the banker 
gave him $1000. Why? The banker cashed that 
check according to his knowledge and value of it — 
not the clerk's. Now the clerk represents the needy 
sinner, the check signifies the precious blood of 
Christ, the banker speaks of God. The sinner 
places the check before the bank of heaven. His 
faith is but small at best, but God knows the value 
of that sacrifice — the sacrifice of His Son — and He 
says, 

"i WILL HONOR THAT SACRIFICE." 

God only can value it aright. And what is His 
value? Listen, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His 
Son, cleanseth us from all sin." ' Thank God, this 
is the value of Jesus' name in heaven. 

Perhaps, my hearers, you have thought that the 
precious blood of Christ only cleanses from your 
sins committed up to the date of your conversion, 
but God says, "cleanseth us from all sin" — from 
every sin of your life — for the value of Christ's 
sacrifice is ever before God. If you have never yet 
believed God's value of this check, believe it to- 
night. 

Let me show you further the value of Christ's 
atoning sacrifice. When He went to the cross for 
sinners, when He stood for them before God, what 
was it that fell upon Him there ? The judgment of 
God. 2 Now mark this: when Abel placed his offer- 
ing upon the altar, the victim was consumed by 

l l John 1 ; 7. 2 Mark 15 : 33, 34 and 37, 38. ^ 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 17 

the fire; but on Calvary's altar, the fire, i.e., the 
judgment of God, was 

CONSUMED BY THE VICTIM. 

The precious Saviour, in those three hours of 
darkness upon the cross, exhausted for believers 
every atom of judgment against them. Thank God, 
to-night the Christian can look right up through the 
firmament, right up through the heavens, right up 
to the glory of God, and reverently say, without 
the shadow of a doubt or a vestige of fear — look 
up to God and say, " There is not a speck of judg- 
ement left for me on account of my sins, for my 
precious Saviour has been beneath Thy judgment 
against my guilt, and has exhausted it for me." 1 
Oh, thank God, this can be the truthful language 
of all who rest upon what Jesus has done. 

I have read of a man on horseback traveling 
across large prairies. He dismounted, and put his 
ear to the ground; then looking back, he muttered, 
" It is as I thought, the dry grass is burning; I 
hear the rumbling fire in the distance ; the ^ky, too, 
is lurid." His steed would not take him beyond 
the reach of danger. The fire came on apace. Our 
traveler struck a match and fired the grass at his 
own feet; the breeze fanned it, and it forged its 
way ahead, consuming the withered grass as it went. 
Waiting a time for the ground to cool, he walked 
his steed upon it for some distance, and took his 
stand. He was between two fires — one forging 
ahead, the other approaching. He felt the heat of 
the flame of the latter, as it neared; but lo, when 

1 John 5 ; 24. 



18 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

it reached the burned space, its course was arrested. 
Why? Because he stood where the fire had been. 

Sinner, where has the fire been ? On Calvary. 
Then take your stand there. 

Yes, there; and when the fire of judgment shall 
overwhelm the ungodly, it will not touch you, be- 
cause you 

STAND WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN. 

Oh, thank God, a believer in Jesus can lift up his 
heart to God, and say, "I am accepted in all the 
value of the blood of Christ, and there is not an 
atom of the divine judgment left for me." 

Listen to the words of our Lord, * ' Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, He that heareth my word and be- 
lieveth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, 
and shall not come into judgment, but is passed 
from death unto life." 1 Mark those words, " Shall 
not come into judgment." He says it. The Son of 
God says it. Is He entitled to say it ? Yes. Why ? 
Because of who He is and of what He has done. 
He is the everlasting Son, and He has borne the 
full weight of the judgment in our behalf. He has 
in the glory of His person sustained it all, and He 
has emerged from it the risen, victorious Saviour, 
the same Blessed One who entered into it for us. 
Yes, He has drained for the Christian that judg- 
ment that would otherwise have fallen upon him, 
and Christ says, " Shall not come into judgment." 
Is it not both gloriously grand and sweetly simple? 

I should like to press another point here. The 
precious blood of the Redeemer is ever before God 
in its wondrous value. 2 It is before Him to-night. 
1 John 5: 24. 2 Exod. 12: 13. 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 19 

He looks upon it. His gaze rests there, and on Him 
who shed it; and God says, "Any poor sinner may 
come to Me by the blood, and be reconciled to Me." 
The blood will thus be before God through the 
ages; it will never lose its value ; and it is ever 
seen by God in its cleansing virtue and its solitary 

glory. 

IT "cleanses from all sin." 

If in Jesus you have trusted, there is for you, be- 
fore God, placed to your account the priceless value 
of the blood of Christ, of which God has testified in 
these words, "cleanseth us from all sin." 1 

I read of an old Scotchman who, when reading 
his Bible, would place his finger on a verse, saying, 
as he read it, "I think Thy thoughts after Thee, 
O God." Let us all do like him. I want you to 

THINK GOD'S THOUGHTS 

about that blood. It is so precious in His sight that 
He only could value it aright. He has not left it 
to angels or to men to value it. No, He has valued 
it and declared its worth in His sight — it "cleans- 
eth from all sin." 

Refer again to your Bible, and read those words, 
"God testifying of his gifts." 2 Sometimes I meet 
people who say they do not feel they are saved, and 
yet they tell me they truly believe in the Lord 
Jesus as their Saviour. But God does not give a 
testimony to our feelings. To what then is God's 
testimony ? Why, to the sacrifice of the Cross and 
its value to Him. 

»1 John 1:7. 2 Heb. 11:4. 



20 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 

Now, what is faith in the blood? ■ It is the recep- 
tion in the soul of God's testimony to its value. 
Will God ever vary or alter His testimony to the 
preciousness of that blood ? Never ! You and I 
change oft — in the same day, perhaps; but Christ's 
atoning sacrifice will never alter, and never change, 

and 

god's testimony to its value 

will always be the same. 

A story is told of a servant of God in Scotland, 
that one evening, when out on horseback, a fog 
overtook him as he was crossing a moor, and he 
lost his way. The mist was so thick that he was 
unable to regain the track ; so, throwing the reins 
upon the horse's neck, he looked up and said, 
"Lord, take care of us." After an hour's traveling 
a light glimmered in the distance, and making to- 
ward it, he found it proceeded from a cottage. 
Knocking at the door, it was opened by a young 
woman, to whom he said that he had lost his way, 
and inquired whether he could pass the night un- 
der that roof. "Certainly, sir," she said, "come 
in." Tying his horse in one of the outbuildings, 
he entered the cottage. "We have no spare bed- 
room for you, sir, but no doubt you can make your- 
self comfortable in the kitchen," said the girl. 
"Anywhere for a shelter," he said, as he entered. 
Soon he was stretched out by the fire and dozing, 
when a side door was opened, and as he started up 
he saw a priest pass through. The young woman 
followed to let him out, and as she retraced her 

^0113.3: 23. 



THE FAITH OF ABEL 21 

steps, the servant of God said, " Is there somebody 
ill here ? " 

''mother is dying in that room," 

was the reply. "Can I see her?" he enquired. 
4 'Yes, but come quietly." He entered. The mother 
was evidently near death. The priest had just given 
her the last rites of her church. The servant of 
God, looking at her, said softly, "The blood of 
Jesus Christ His Son cleanse th us from all sin." It 
was like new life to the dying soul. She started up 
in her bed, and said, "What is that ? " He repeated 
it. Sinking back on her pillow she exclaimed, " O 
God, that is 

JUST WHAT I WANT; 

but why didn't the priest tell me ? " A smile passed 
over her face, and, looking up, she repeated, "Just 
what I want," and her spirit fled to God. 

My hearers, it is just what we want for eternity. 
We need the precious blood of Christ. Come, then, 
to Jesus now; rest upon His all-sufficient sacrifice, 
and receive the salvation of God. Amen. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 



"But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it 
known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this 
Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : and by Him 
all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could 
not be justified by the law of Moses " (Acts 13 : 37-39). 

I WANT to talk about this wonderful subject — 
"the forgiveness of sins." We will consider 
four points in connection with it, namely : 
(i) The One who forgives. 

(2) The ground of His forgiveness. 

(3) The manner of His forgiveness. 

(4) The extent of His forgiveness. 
Remember these four points, and it will help you 

to follow me. 

1.— THE ONE WHO FORGIVES 

I suppose every one here believes that in is 
always committed against God. We find it so stated 
in Scripture. When the apostle Peter charged An- 
anias and Sapphira with their sin, he said : " Thou 
hast not lied unto men, but unto God." 1 When 
David sinned so grievously against Uriah, he said 
to Nathan, " 1 have sinned against the Lord; " and 
again in psalm 51, " Against Thee, Thee only, have 
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." 2 Let 
me assure you of this, that every sin of your life, of 
my life, of every man's life, is against the living 
God Himself. I don't wonder at David saying in 
the book of Psalms, "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark 
1 Acts 5: 4. 2 Ps. 51:4. 



FOKGIVENESS OF SINS 23 

iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is for- 
giveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared." 1 
Yes, who could stand in the judgment before God, 
if He marked their iniquities ? Sinner, remember 
this : 

YOUR SINS ARE RECORDED 

in God's books, 2 and no mistakes are made there. 

Suppose that a commercial man is in difficulty, 
and finds it necessary to employ a skilled account- 
ant. He instructs him to look through his books 
and ascertain the truth of his position. Now that 
accountant, skilful as he may be, might make a 
mistake. Another accountant might discover a 
blunder that the first one had made. But there 
are no errors in God's records as to sins — sins of 
omission and commission ; sins of night and sins of 
the day; sins of the moment and sins of the hour, 
of the week, of the month, and the year; sins of 
manhood, of womanhood, and of youth. All sins, 
both in public and in private life, God has put them 
down in His books. 

Sinner, when you think of this, and of how by- 
and-by you have to meet God, does your heart not 
quake ? What an awful 

EXPOSURE OF SIN 

must take place before the Great White Throne 
when "the books" are opened! The sinner's guilt 
will all come out in the light there. But oh, my 
hearer, if you would only turn to God and have all 
out with Him now; if you would but say to Him, 
"Search me, O God;" 3 if you would but come to 
1 Ps. 130 : 3, 4. 2 Rev. 20 : 12. 3 Ps. 139 : 23. 



24 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

Him with the confession, "I have sinned" — then 
He would point you to the sacrifice of His blessed 
Son on the cross, and would assure you from His 
Word that, by that wondrous offering, the sins of 
all who rest on the Saviour's blood are put away, to 
be remembered no more. 

Are you afraid to be searched by God? If so, 
you evidently do not know His way of blotting out 
sin. Let me explain it by a parable. In England 
there are certain game laws making trespassing on 
another man's land, in pursuit of game, a penal 
offence. This is termed "poaching." Now sup- 
pose a man gets a dishonest living by poaching. 
His heartbroken wife has often said to him, "Jim, 
give it up;" and he has as often answered, "I 
won't; I like it, and it brings us food and money." 
One morning, before sunrise, Jim returns to his 
cottage with his pockets loaded with partridge and 
pheasant, the results of a poaching expedition. 
Hanging his coat on the back of the kitchen door, 
he goes up to bed and is soon asleep. His wife 
gets quietly out of the bed and goes to the window. 
Opening the blind, she sees in the morning light 
the game-warden and a policeman approaching the 
dwelling. She trembles with fear for Jim. She 
rushes down stairs to find his coat. Jim hears her, 
and calls out, " Mary, what is the matter ? " " The 
gamekeeper and a policeman are coming," she re- 
plies, and I'm searching your pockets to take out 
the game and bury it in the garden." "That's 
right," he says, "bury all out of sight; don't leave 
a feather behind." 

Now Jim would not have asked the policeman or 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 25 

the keeper to search like that. No, no ; they would 
have searched to expose him for judgment. But he 
asks his wife to search. Why ? Because she has a 
wife's heart, and searches in love, with the object 
of removing all tra e of Jim's guilt. My hearers, 
this is how God searches : 

HE SEARCHES IN LOVE, 

He would like to bury your sins. You need not be 
afraid to be searched by Him. Let Him search you 
thoroughly now, and show you the hideousness of 
your guilt. He will tell you that, deep as your in- 
iquity is, yet if you confess your guilt, and believe 
on His dear Son, all shall be buried for ever — put 
out of sight in the death of Jesus — not a trace of 
them left behind. Listen to the Psalmist, " There 
is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be 
feared." 1 

Think of the great and blessed God appealing to 
you to-night, and saying, "I have pardon for you." 
He says to you drunkard, to you sinners, there is 
forgiveness, full, free, eternal, for you. Yet, alas, 
people turn away from Hi m and His blessing, and 
in their heart, if not in words, they say, " I pray 
Thee have me excused." 2 

Can any but God forgive sins ? No ; a thousand 
times, No! It is God, and God alone, who can be- 
stow the priceless blessing of forgiveness. O my 
friends, look up to Him to-night as the One who 
alone can forgive you your sins. 

*Ps. 130:4. 2 Lukel4;18. 



26 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

2.— THE GROUND OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 

God is light, as well as love, and if He forgives 
sins, He must have 

A RIGHTEOUS GROUND 

for doing so. In the old city of London is a narrow 
street called Paternoster Row. Shops are on either 
side full of religious publications. You can get 
books to suit any and every creed. I fear "the 
Row " is similar to many in this audience, 

RELIGIOUS, BUT 

A person walked into one of the shops I have 
mentioned and purchased an illuminated card, 
bearing the text, " God is Love." l He then asked 
for one with "God is Light" 2 upon it. The book- 
seller said, " I am sorry we cannot oblige you, but 
we do not have it in stock ; there is no demand 
for it." 

NO DEMAND FOR IT ! 

Ah, friends, people do not care to hear that God is 
light. They would fain regard Him as all love. He 
is love, but He is light as well. If He pardons you 
He must have a righteous ground for doing so. 
Supposing that God said to me, "You have been a 
great sinner, but I'll think no more about it. Go; 
you are pardoned." Why, that would be a false 
God. That God might suit some of you, but that is 
not the true God. He says to me, "You deserve, 
on account of your guilt, to be cast into hell; but 
in love to you I have given my Son for you to bear 
the judgment due to your sins; and the moment 
you trust in Him, you shall be eternally forgiven." 
1 Uohn4:8. a Uohnl; 5. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 27 

Has this no charm for my heart ? God laid upon 
His blessed Son what we deserve, even judgment, 
and He gives all who believe in Jesus what that 
precious Saviour deserves — even life, favor and 
glory. Is not that good news for you to-night ? 

Now let this sink deep down into your soul — 
that 

GOD MUST JUDGE SIN. 

Yes, I press that point — He must judge sin; we 
can't be saved without His judging it. 

Then here comes the problem : How can God be 
holy and yet have us in heaven? How can His 
grace be shown to us and yet He judge our sin ? 

Now mark this : if God judges sin on us, He 
must banish us from His presence for ever. Yet 
His desire is to have us happy and at rest in His 
own heavenly home. You know what a weir is. 
In it are floodgates. If the gates are closed, the 
water is pent up behind, and of course the channel 
in front is low, or dry. If you wish the water to 
rush down the weir, you have only to open the 
floodgates. Well, the pent-up water pictures the 
river of God's grace ; the closed floodgates repre- 
sent the claims of God's holiness ; and the dry 
channel, the avenue into our hearts. God, in love 
to us, gave His blessed Son, who came down into 
the dark waters of death, and there, in the great- 
ness of His grace, and the holiness of His person, 
He, in those terrible hours of darkness and suffer- 
ing under God's judgment against sin on the cross, 
placed His mighty hand upon the floodgates and 
opened them wide apart, so that the river of grace 



28 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

might come rushing down in the Holy Spirit's 
power into the hearts of men and women here 
to-night. Yes, 

THE FLOODGATES ARE OPEN, 

for Jesus, as the sin-bearer on the cross, has met 
the full tide of divine judgment against sin ; He 
has satisfied all the claims of divine holiness, and 
has told out the deep, boundless love of God's heart. 
And remember this, ye men and women, that 
the death of Jesus did not make God love us, but 
was in itself the blessed 

PROOF OF DIVINE LOVE 

for us ; as it is written, ' * For God so loved the 
world that He gave His only begotten Son." ' God 
has, in the death of Jesus, found a righteous ground 
by which He can bestow His choicest blessings 
upon the darkest sinner that ever lived. "On a 
righteotts ground ? " Yes, it is the finished redemp- 
tion-work of Christ. 2 People often look in them- 
selves to find there some ground for God to bless 
them; but I tell you that you need to 

LOOK OUT, NOT IN. 

You would never think of peering down a coal mine 
to find a star. So, don't look into your own heart, 
but right out to Calvary for the ground of God's 
grace. You will then see that the Lord Jesus, by 
His atoning death, opened up the way for God in 
righteousness to bless the sinner that comes to Him 
in the name of Jesus. 

The ground of God's forgiveness is clearly the 
1 John 3: 16. 2 Rom. 3: 25. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 29 

death of the Saviour. Your works have no place 
in that. People say to me, H Don't you believe in 
good works ?" I answer, "I do;" and they say, 
44 In what works?" I tell them, "In the good 
works of a Christian — after he has become a Chris- 
tian through resting his soul upon the finished work 
of the Cross." Some people make the fatal mis- 
take of waiting for the blessing of forgiveness up 
in heaven, to be got after they have passed into 
eternity. But God's gospel is that forgiveness of 
sins is a 

PRESENT BLESSING; 1 

it is permanent and eternal ; received now, upon 
this earth; not on the ground of your doing, but on 
the ground of what Christ has done. Man's gospel 
is Do! Whereas, God's is Done! Not what you can 
do, but what Christ has done. 

I remember hearing of a lady who went to see 
another lady, and said to her, " I hear you are dis- 
tressed about your soul." She replied, "Yes, I 
am." "And what do you think is the way of peace? " 
asked the other. " I am doing my best," she an- 
swered. "Oh," said the other lady, "There's a 
difference between your religion and mine." " In- 
deed, what is yours ? " " Mine," she answered, " is 

NOT 'DOING* BUT 'DONE,' 

whereas yours is ' do.' " " Whatever do you mean? " 
her friend asked. " I mean that you are resting in 
what you can do, but I am resting in what my Sav- 
iour has done! " The other looked up thoughtfully, 
and exclaimed, "Yes, that is the mistake I have 
^cts 13 : 38 ? 39. 



30 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

made." The dear soul got peace through that visit, 
and so will you get peace to-night if you will only 
rest your soul in what your Saviour has done, and 
not in what you can do. 

Supposing I want a new buggy, and I go to a 
carriage -maker ; my order is for a buggy well built, 
well finished, and handsome, regardless of expense. 
Calling again in three months' time, I am taken 
into the showroom to view the newly-made buggy. 
There it is, evidently well built and handsome. 
Addressing myself to the carriage-maker, I say, 
4 'What can be done to finish it?" " Finish it! 
Why, it is finished," he says. Still I ask, " What 
can be done to make it perfect ? " " Perfect! Why 
it is as perfect as man can make it." " Oh," but I 
say, "surely I must be able to do something to it! " 
And the tradesman answers, "Yes, if you wish to 
do something, go and get your horse, hitch the 
animal to the buggy, and drive away." Yes, the 
buggy was finished, and nothing more could be 
done to it. So Christ's redemption work is a fin- 
ished work. You can add nothing to it; receive it 
with faith, and let grace convey you all through 
your life, and then into heaven. Don't talk about 
adding to what is complete and perfect. Don't 
dishonor Christ's work by wanting to add some- 
thing of your own to it. 

And where is the Saviour who did that work ? He 
is not in the Virgin's arms; neither is He upon the 
cross, nor in the tomb. I often think that the Ro- 
man Catholic never gets farther than the Virgin 
with the Babe in her arms ; the Protestant, that is the 
Protestant in a general sense, has got no farther than 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 31 

Christ on the cross ; but true Christianity reaches 
farther — it reveals Christ on the everlasting throne 
at God's right hand. God has set that blessed 
Saviour up there on the highest heights of glory. 1 
Yes, there at the right hand of the majesty on 
high sits the blessed Christ of God, who has been 
down to Calvary for you and me. God has found 
eternal satisfaction in what Christ has done on the 
cross for His glory and our need. 

god's righteous claims are satisfied 

in all His requirements, in all the demands of His 
justice and the claims of His holiness, God has 
been fully and perfectly satisfied and glorified by 
the Saviour's work, and we can be satisfied too. If 
God's requirements have been so fully met by the 
death of Jesus on the cross, surely the needs of my 
poor soul are met by the same blessed work. Yes, 
here is our resting-place. 

A young fellow wrote me a letter some time ago, 
to the effect that he had been troubled for the 
previous two weeks about his soul, but that he had 
learnt a wonderful truth, namely, that God was 
satisfied with Jesus' work on the cross, and he was 
satisfied as well. 

Supposing the roof of this hall were taken away, 
and yon heaven opened before your eyes, and you 
were given the power to see right in, you would 
behold on the throne 

JESUS, A REAL MAN, 

with the bright glory of God in His face 2 instead of 
1 Phil. 2:9; Heb. 2:9. 2 2 Cor. 4 : 6. 



32 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

the marks of the world's mockery. We should cry, 
as we beheld Him, " It is Jesus ! Jesus ! ! " 

Yes, God has placed His Son as Man on the 
throne. Praise God, that the work of Calvary has 
been done to God's eternal satisfaction and for your 
eternal blessing; and you have but to receive it, 
and rest where God rests. 

Where does He rest ? In Christ ! Where do I 
rest ? On Christ! — blessed resting-place ! Sinner, 
you have never rested there ; but oh, rest there to- 
night. 

3.—THE MANNER OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 

Let me take a Scripture incident. There was a 
poor, sinful woman, a fallen sister of society; 1 she 
heard of Jesus. It may have been that on a prev- 
ious occasion she had heard Him preach in her own 
town that beautiful message, "Come unto Me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest." Now it is told her that He is in Simon's 
house; she hastens to the dwelling, and entered 
the room where the feast was held. She did not 
advance toward Peter, and say, "Will you intro- 
duce me to Christ ? " or to John or James with the 
same request — and I hope none here to-night will 
ask me to introduce them to Jesus, because I can- 
not — the gospel does that for you. It introduces 
Christ to you and you to Christ. The woman stole 
quietly up to the blessed Lord, and with fast-fall- 
ing tears, sobbed out her contrition at His feet. 
She knew to whom to go. She had the right Per- 

1 Luke 7: 36-50. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 33 

son before her soul, even her Saviour-God. And, 
my friends, He is the same for you as for her. 
Then the Lord turned to her, and said: 

"thy sins are forgiven.' 1 

This is the way He did and still does. Is it not 
charming ? He did not upbraid her. Oh, no; but 
in wondrous tenderness and love He said, "Thy 
sins are forgiven. " What a wonderful touch of love ; 
it was 

THE SAVIOUR'S TOUCH. 

He made that woman to hear His blessed peace- 
giving words, "Thy sins are forgiven." Have you 
heard those peace-giving words ? 

It is related that, in the American Civil war, there 
was a young soldier badly wounded and lying in 
hospital. His mother was sent for. On her arrival, 
the surgeon told her that her boy was delirious, 
was hovering between life and death, and that she 
could not see him until the next day. "I can't 
wait till then," said she; "oh, let me see him." 
The surgeon opened the door of the ward, and 
there on a bed lay the poor young fellow, tossing 
about in delirium. The mother said, "Doctor, do 
let me go to him — I must, doctor." "No, you can't 
go in," was the reply. The mother stood for an 
hour or two, and at last, as the doctor again passed, 
she said to him, " I shall go mad if I don't go in 
to sit with him!" "You must not go in," again 
repeated the doctor. A thought struck her. Could 
she not be allowed to take the nurse's place at the 
bedside, promising not to utter a word, so that the 
boy could not recognize her at all ? "Oh, let me 



84 FOKGIVENESS OF SINS 

sit by his side and watch him," said she. With some 
reluctance the surgeon consented. The mother took 
the nurse's place by the side of the cot. The sol- 
dier's face was turned from her, and he was moan- 
ing in delirium. Presently she put out her hand 
and touched his fevered brow, when he at once 
said, " That's like mother's hand! " Ah, a mother's 
touch could not be imitated. Have you ever known 
the Saviour's touch of grace ? There is 

NO TOUCH LIKE HIS. 

He heals the wounds, and bids you dry up your 
tears, and go on your way rejoicing. Oh, what a 
touch is that of Jesus ! — "Thy sins are forgiven." 

If here to-night Jesus passed up and down the 
seats, and said to each of you, " Do you know Me ? 
Look at My hands and My feet that were nailed 
on the cross; look at My side that was pierced — I 
am the One that died for you!" Would you not 
put out your hand, and say, "O Lord, I want the 
touch of Thy love — there is no touch like Thine! " 
And He would do it. Yes, though you were now 
on the brink of hell, yet there's a Saviour for you, 
and He desires to save you now. 

4.— THE EXTENT OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 

The book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that 
"All who believe are justified from all things." 1 

A merchant, involved in financial difficulties, 
says to his clerk, " Robert, I am af::aid to face my 
ledgers to ascertain what I owe. Perhaps it is 
$50,000." Soon after, a friend meets him, and no- 
nets 13 : 39. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 35 

ticing his downcast appearance, asks the reason of 
it. He replies, "I am in debt and owe at least 
$50,000." His friend says, "Send your books round 
to my office ; " adding, "Perhaps you don't know 
that thirty years ago your father befriended mine, 
and through it I am a millionaire to-day, and if I 
could now help you I should be glad. I will gladly 
pay the $50,000 — or more, if you owe more — and 
we will say no more about it." 

The books are sent round, and on careful exam- 
ination, the man's indebtedness is found to be about 
$100,000. The kind friend, however, pays all in 
full ; the receipts from creditors are attached to the 
various accounts, and the books returned. When 
the merchant looks over his books, to his astonish- 
ment he finds that his debt was double the amount 
he had thought, and that his friend has liquidated 
all. " Oh," he says, " I never dreamt he would be 
so kind, so good to me! " 

Friends, we little know the extent of God's for- 
giving grace. What little knowledge we have of 
our guilt, of our sins! But, thank God, the Chris- 
tian can say, * 4 Though I may not know the full ex- 
tent of my liabilities and the full deserts of my 
sins, yet I do know that 

CHRIST ANSWERED FOR ALL 

by His death; and that I am forgiven all." "All 
who believe are justified from all things." It does 
not mean those who think they have done their 
duty, done their "best." The Scripture says, "All 
who believe are justified from all things " — believe 
in the Saviour, not in themselves. And how many 



36 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

things are they justified from ? "AH." Does that 
not take in the future ? Yes, for all my sins were 
in futurity when Christ died on the tree 1900 years 
ago. 

Should Satan come to you to-night, and ask, 
"Do you believe the gospel which you heard in the 
hall to-night ?" and you answer, "I do; " and then 
he adds, "You say that all your sins are forgiven? 
Remember, they are countless as the stars in the 
heavens, and as numberless as the grains of sand on 
the seashore. Your sins forgiven ? Impossible ! " 
Now what will you answer to this ? Let it be this, 
1 ' Satan, look at this book, 

THE WORD OF THE LIVING GOD. 

It reads : 'All who believe ARE justified from ALL 
things ! ' " Then the devil will retreat from you. 

Let me ask you to take God's Word as God's 
Word. The skeptic and the infidel trifle with Scrip- 
ture ; and, maybe, some person here who professes 
to believe in Christ, doubts it too. But when the 
heavens shall have passed away, and the earth shall 
have been burnt up, that blessed Word of God 
shall stand. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
but my words shall not pass away." 1 

Perhaps some one asks," Can I get forgiveness?" 
Yes — NOW ! Yes, my friend, it is for sinners; and 
are not you a sinner ? 

I recall an incident of prison authorities who 

arranged that five men should be pardoned for 

good behavior, and that it should be the five 

highest on the prison roll — regardless of who they 

x Matt. 24; 35. 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS 37 

were. When the day arrived to declare the names, 
it was done at the prison service. The first name 
was 4t Reuben Johnson.' 1 The chaplain called out, 
" Reuben Johnson will come and get his pardon.'* 
Reuben only looked round to see who the fortunate 
man was. "Reuben," said the chaplain, "you are 
free." Again Reuben turned to see a Reuben rise 
up. The third time the chaplain said, "Reuben! 
You are the man." Then the truth dawned upon 
him; he got up, and wept like a child. When the 
service was over, Reuben, however, was going off 
with the prison gang as usual, and the chaplain had 
once more to call to him: "Reuben! step out of the 
ranks ; you are free! Then he stepped out, and 
passed through the prison gates— free ! 

Are any of you like him ? What is your name ? 
It is sinner. God speaks to such, and offers pardon. 
Are you saying, "There must be a mistake; I'm 
not worthy." My hearer, pardon is offered you — 
not because you could ever be worthy, but because 

JESUS IS WORTHY. 

God desires to bless you, the unworthy, because of 
Jesus, the worthy. Will you be set free from your 
sins to-night ? 

When Wilberforce, that noble philanthropist, 
through great exertions obtained the emanci- 
pation of the West Indian slaves at the cost of 
British millions, there were no cables and no tele- 
graph ; the news was sent by a sailing vessel. 
When the islands were reached, the captain stood 
on the bridge ; he put a trumpet to his lips and 
shouted— " FREE I " The blacks, who studded 



38 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 

the shore, were wild with joy ; some stood on 
their heads ; others turned somersaults ; others 
shouted, "God bless Britain!" All this was pro- 
duced by that one word, "Free" Now, let me put 
the silver trumpet of the gospel to my lips to-night. 
Sinner, slave of sin and Satan, 

THERE IS FREEDOM FOR YOU ! 

Freedom — not at the cost of millions of money — 
but at the priceless cost of the precious blood of 
Christ! Oh, listen to-night : "Freedom at the cost 
of Jesus' blood! " I proclaim it in the ear of all 
people — Freedom for the slave ! 

Oh, that God Himself may break your fetters 
and bonds to-night, and set you free with this sweet 
word ringing in your heart : "All who Believe 
are Justified from All Things. " Amen! 



TRUMPETS! 



"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall pre- 
pare himself to the battle ? " (1 Cor. 14 : 8. ) 

MY subject to-night is "Trumpets!" And I 
shall address my remarks to three classes of 
people who, doubtless, are within the walls of this 
building — careless sinners, anxious souls, and Chris- 
tians, with special reference to backsliders, 

A story is told of the times of Charlemagne, the 
great Emperor of the Franks, that when his army 
was hotly pursued and hemmed in by three terrible 
divisions of Saracens, a Frank warrior stepped 
forward and blew three terrific blasts with his 
bugle. The first blast brought the pursuing army 
to a standstill, the second spread consternation 
through their ranks, at the third they broke rank 
in great disorder, and fled from the field. 

I want to blow three trumpet-blasts in the ears 
of the careless sinner to-night. And let me tell 
you, O man, that, like the Saracens, there are 

THREE TERRIBLE POWERS 

against you : three fearful powers — the World, the 
Flesh and the Devil. If God, by the trumpet-blasts 
to-night, should deliver you from Satan's power, 
and from the power of the flesh and of this world, 
and set you free for Christ, what a note of triumph 
from my lips and my heart shall arise to His 
praise ! 



40 "TRUMPETS!" 

This is the triple alliance — The World, the Flesh, 
and the Devil — which are arrayed against you to- 
night — offensive, in making you sin against God; 
defensive, in causing you to turn away from God's 
love. This three-fold power is bent upon your de- 
struction! Let me put the trumpet to my lips and 
blow the first blast : 

repent ! 

God put a trumpet into the hands of John the Bap- 
tist, sending him into the wilderness with it to 
summon peeple to " Repent! " The people of Judea 
flocked out by hundreds to the preaching, and were 
aroused by it. 

Would to God that this whole city should hear 
that blast — " Repent!"; that every sinner in this 
hall would listen to it now — the liar, the drunkard, 
the adulterer, publicans and Pharisees alike — and 
repent. 

A young fellow touched me on the shoulder the 
other night after a gospel meeting. On my turn- 
ing round, he said, " I am such a hypocrite!" I 
replied, " Thank God!" He seemed surprised, 
and said, "Why thank God? Is it because I am 
a hypocrite?" "Oh, no," I answered, "but be- 
cause you have acknowledged it." 

Thank God for that. And thank God to-night for 
any man or woman, youth or maiden, who will bow 
down before God and say, I confess I am a poor, 
guilty soul. Have you ever cried out in that way 
to God ? 

After John the Baptist had blown the trumpet, 
we read that the Lord Himself blew the blast, 



"TRUMPETS!" 41 

"Repent!" 1 Then Peter, the apostle of the cir- 
cumcision, sounded it forth 2 ; and subsequently 
Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. Listen to his con- 
science-reaching words, "God now commandeth all 
men everywhere to repent ! 3 

My friends, that command is to you. Acknowl- 
edge before God that you are guilty and lost, 
that you have no claim to glory; that you have no 
title to heaven; but, thank God, an honest confes- 
sion of being a sinner gives you a title to Christ. 
He, as the Saviour, stepped from the unsullied 
light of God's presence down into this poor, wretch- 
ed, guilty world, and died for sinners, so that He 
might put His everlasting arms around you, and 
say to you, "Salvation has come to thee to-night! " * 

It becomes evident that many 

TWENTIETH CENTURY PREACHERS 

omit from their sermons the word " Repent." They 
preach an "only believe" gospel. Now, do not mis- 
understand me here. Blessed be God, the way for 
a sin-burdened heart to obtain pardon is to "only 
believe " on the Lord Jesus Christ. Show me an 
anxious soul, show me the broken-hearted sinner, 
and with joy let me bring forth this balm of Gilead 
for that soul. 

But why should we say to the careless sinner, the 
profane, the indifferent, the blasphemer, the skep- 
tic, the drunkard, the liar, or the formal religionist: 
You need "only believe." Nay, this is hut part of 
the truth, for they must first repent. Repentance 

1 Mark 1 : 15. 2 Acts 2 : 37, 38. 

3 Actsl7:30. 4 Lukel9:9. 



42 "TKUMPETS!" 

is the result produced in a man's soul when he bows 
to the truth concerning his guilty state before God; 
when he owns that what God declares of him is 
true — in a word, when he justifies God in His judg- 
ment of him. 

O unsaved hearers, you are lost ! lost f! You are 
passing into eternity with rapid pace. An eternal 
hell is before you. — Don't say to me, "Sir, do 
not be so terrifically in earnest." Oh yes, I am in 
dead earnest in pleading with you. Live on you 
must — aye, as long as God Himself — and 'twill 
either be in heaven or in hell. Men, your souls 
are in peril ; your sins are dragging you down to a 
lost eternity! Repent, then, REPENT ! Wait not 
until to-morrow ; it may be too late then. 

Now let me blow another blast. Tis this : 

believe! 

Somebody may be saying, " I am not indifferent or 
callous about these matters ; I am truly troubled 
and anxious about my soul; I really wish to know 
what to do to be saved." Listen, then, to the sweet 
bugle note found in Acts 16 : 31. The Philippian 
jailor asked, "What must I do to be saved ?" Di- 
rectly the answer comes to him, "Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy 
house." How is it that people always want to do 
something in order to be saved ? How many are 
trying by their works, by their own endeavors, by 
a bit of church-going, a bit of religion, to fit them- 
selves for God's presence. They never will succeed ; 
for how could a sinner ever fit himself for heaven 
and God's presence ? God says: 



"TRUMPETS!" 43 



But they say, " It is of works " — which is right ? 

Come with me to a mountain region, and let us 
travel up that winding road which gradually leads 
to a town some 5,000 feet above sea level. We find 
some sharp turns here and there, with deep ravines 
on this side and that. As a precaution against ac- 
cident, wooden railings have been erected along 
the precipices. We meet an aged man going up 
along the road; he carries a pack on his back, and 
being fatigued, on reaching the railing, he lays his 
pack on the ground, and leans against it to rest 
himself. Suddenly there is a crash, and he is over! 
Poor fellow, he is dashed to pieces at the bottom 
of the ravine ! Ah, the railing was rotten, the 
weather had spoiled it. I say, with all my heart, 
"Would there had been no railing there.* ' Better 
none than rotten ones. 

My religious hearers, you who have not been 
11 born again," your works are 

LIKE THE ROTTEN RAILING; 

they will utterly fail you ; and if you continue to 
trust in them, you will go over into the everlasting 
burnings with them. Give up this trust in your 
doings, and receive the precious gospel found in 
those soul-emancipating words, "Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." * 

What fools people are who, zealously enough, 
are going about seeking to establish their own 
righteousness, instead of submitting themselves to 
the righteousness of God ! s 

1 Eph. 2 : 9. 2 Acts 16 : 31. 3 Rom. 10 : S. 



44 "TRUMPETS!" 

I have'read a story connected with a place in a 
European country called "The Deer's Leap." A 
stag, being hotly pursued by huntsmen and hounds, 
was arrested in its race for life by a deep chasm 
eighteen yards wide. The poor thing crouched, 
gathered up all its strength for a final effort, and 
made a desperate spring. Its forefeet just failed 
to touch the opposite side, and down it fell, and lay 
quivering in death on the rocks at the bottom. O 
religious sinner, read your own history in this. You 
are trying to reach God in your own way. When 
your deathbed is reached, a chasm still separates 
you from heaven's shores. The fatal leap is made, 
and you fall into the abyss — lost for ever! 

O sinner, your works will never carry you into 
God's glory. "Doing your best" will not avail. 
And what does " doing your best " mean, after all ? 
What would you think of me if to-morrow, in pass- 
ing down the street, I picked up from the gutter 
some cast off garment, 

LIKE FILTHY RAGS, 

and then came to your residence. Pressing the 
electric bell, you come to the door, and I offer you 
the filthy rags as a present; what would you think 
of me ? You would esteem it a gross insult ! And 
rightly so. Now what must God think when a man 
or woman presents to Him filthy rags, as our right- 
eousness is called. "All our righteousnesses are as 
filthy rags." 1 They will certainly never provide 
you a covering suitable for the bright glory of God. 
You must get Christ — not your rags, with which 
Usa. 64:6. 



"TRUMPETS!" 45 

to come before God — and Christ's blessed atoning 
work will save you. Some people are extremely 
fond of 

BLOWING THEIR OWN TRUMPETS. 

Listen to some of the notes as they peal forth : 
" I'm not a drunkard," "I'm not an extortioner," 
"I'm not a gambler;" " I attend church fairly 
regularly," "I sometimes read the Bible," "I 
teach in the Sunday-school," etc., etc. It is all 
/, /, I. Just like the Pharisee of Luke 18: n : "God 
I thank Thee that I am not as other men are." 
A true Christian — one truly born of God — speaks 
not in this fashion. " Not I, but Christ," rings out 
from such a heart. Depend upon it, proud Phari- 
see, you are blowing your own trumpet. See, by 
way of contrast, the attitude of the publican ; he 
did not begin with 

THAT BIG UGLY " I. " 

No, he began with God: " God be merciful to me a 
sinner." 1 A man might say, "That is all very well, 
but surely there is a work to be done! " Yes, cer- 
tainly, there was a work to be done — a great work, 
a stupendous work. Satan whispers in your ear, 
"You must do it." It is his lie. God says to you, 
"My Son has done it." This is God's truth. Which 
do you believe, the devil's lie or God's truth ? 
Hearken to those words of Jesus when on the cross: 

"it is finished! " 2 

There is the resting-place for your soul. "Fin- 
ished " by the Son of God. Oh, solid, blessed, im- 

1 Luke 18 : 13. 2 John 19 : 30. 



46 "TRUMPETS!" 

mutable resting-place for our souls ; it shall stand 
for ever. 

To " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" is to rest 
your soul's salvation upon the redemption accom- 
plished by the blessed Son of God at the cross. Be- 
hold Him now on the throne, in glory; view Him 
there as Man risen from among the dead, raised by 
the glory of the Father, and crowned with glory 
and honor in heaven as the 

PROOF OF GOD'S ACCEPTANCE 

of what He did upon the cross ; it has com- 
pletely satisfied God, and met our deepest need. 
Oh, broken down sinner, believe in Him, who in 
the glory of His person and work, can never break 
down. He never failed in the past, He cannot fail 
in the present, and He never will in the future. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then, and thou 
shalt be saved. 

Now let me blow another blast. We have already 
had two blasts: " Repent!" "Believe!'' and the 
the third is contained in the one word, 

"now!" 

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is 
the day of salvation." 1 

You will leave this hall to-night either softened 
or hardened by what you have heard. 

Do you know whose is the hardest heart here ? 

We go to an old country village, to a cottage with 
thatched roof, surrounded by a garden, and ad- 
dressing ourselves to old John, who has lived there 

^Cor. 6: 2. 



"TRUMPETS!" 47 

all his life, we say, ' 'Where is the hardest patch of 
soil in this place?" He replies, "I don't know." 
We ask for his spade, and endeavor to dig beneath 
the eaves of the roof. But it is too hard. The 
dropping of rain from the roof has made the earth 
like a crust of iron. Now that is the hardest heart 
here to-night. Yon old man, upon whose heart the 
gospel rain has been dropping for twenty, thirty, 
forty years, and still unsaved! Oh, that God might 
plough up his conscience and melt his heart to- 
night ! Now is the day of salvation ; but the devil 
says " to-morrow! M 

Someone has called procrastination the 

"recruiting sergeant of damnation." 

Maybe the devil has sent an emissary to this hall 
to-night to whisper in your ear, " It's all true, but 
put it off." To the mother he whispers, "It's all 
true, but put it off; you have a family to look after; 
there's plenty of time yet to think of these things." 
To the father he says, " They are going to make 
you Mayor, and perhaps you may be in high politi- 
cal office very soon ; put off salvation to-night, else 
your prospects maybe blighted." But God says, 
"NOW is the day of salvation." 

A ship was going down in Dublin Bay, and four 
sailors were clinging to the rigging, when they 
heard, through a speaking trumpet, these words 
from the shore: "We're going to throw you a life- 
line and basket; get in; and when we signal the 
word 'Now,' let go the rigging; we'll pull you 
ashore!" All is ready, and they wait the signal 
"Now ! " Two of the men quited the wreck and got 



48 "TRUMPETS!" 

ashore all right; the other two still clung to the 
rigging, and were drowned. The incident has been 
recorded in these verses : 

11 God's Now is sounding in your ears : 
Oh, let it reach your heart ; 
From every trust but Christ alone 
He bids you part. 

"Your righteousness, as filthy rags, 
Must all relinquished be, 
And only Jesus' precious blood 
Must be your plea. 

" Trust now the one provided rope, 
Quit now the broken mast, 
Before the hope of safety be 
For ever past. 

" Fear not to trust His precious Word, 
So sweet, so tried, so true ; 
And you are safe for evermore, 
Yes, even you ! 

" There is one hope, and only one ; 
You may be saved, but how? 
The rope hold fast, but quit the mast, 
At the trumpet signal, 'Now /' " 

Maiden, mother, son, father, will you trust Jesus 
now? Throw yourself at the feet of Christ, and say, 
44 Lord, I am a guilty sinner; save me, or I perish! " 
and He will put His blessed arms around you, and 
send you home to-night with the joy of salvation in 
your soul, and you shall pass down through time 
into eternity a happy, joyful Christian. Will you 
become a Christian to-night ? 

Now let me sound another trumpet note: 



" TRUMPETS !» 49 

"WHEREFORE, SIRS, BE OF GOOD CHEER; FOR I BELIEVE 
GOD THAT IT SHALL BE EVEN AS IT WAS TOLD ME." 

I suppose you have read of this shipwreck. It 
says, "And when neither sun nor stars in many 
days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all 
hope that we should be saved was taken away." 
Then by an angel God told Paul, " Fear not, Paul: 
thou must be brought before Caesar; and lo, God 
hath given thee all them that sail with thee." Paul 
believed God, and, when to all appearance there 
was nothing but death for them all, he stepped for- 
ward, saying: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: 
for I believe God that it shall be even as it was 
told me." * What a cheering bugle note that was, 
above the howling of the wind and the roar of the 
tempest! Truly their extremity was God's oppor- 
tunity. 

Now, perhaps, some distressed soul here to-night 
is saying, "But I'm such a sinner; all is dark to me, 
though I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Let 
me, then, like Paul, sound this sweet bugle note 
for your comfort, my hearer : "Be of good cheer, 
for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told 
me." And pray, what has God told you ? Listen: 
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath 
raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 2 

Now, do you confess Jesus as the Lord and the 
Saviour? "Yes," you say, "I do." Do you be- 
lieve in your heart that God has raised Him from 
the dead? "Yes," you reply. Then God says, 
"thou shalt be saved." Shalt confess, shalt believe, 
^(^27: 25. 2 Rom, 10:9. 



50 " TRUMPETS !" 

shalt be saved — three lovely "shalts" Yoti say the 
first two are true of you. If so, God says that the 
third " shalt " is also true of you. Shalt be saved! 
It does not say feel saved, but "shalt be saved." It 
is one of God's facts concerning you — not one of 
your feelings. 

Now take God at His word. Faith does this. It 
believes God, because it is God who says it. Now, 
God says that Jesus died for our sins, 

I BELIEVE IT BECAUSE GOD SAYS IT. 

"I believe God that it shall be even as it was 
told me." 

Now I want to speak especially to the backslider. 
In my travels I have found the happy-go-lucky 
worldling ; I also have found the bright, happy 
Christian ; but I have never yet seen a happy, 
joyful backslider. 

What do I mean by a backslider ? I mean one 
who has been born again, but who has wandered 
away from his Lord. A child of God he is, but he 
has wandered away from Christ. After he was con- 
verted how bright he was ; he confessed his Sav- 
iour before his fellows; the name of Jesus was con- 
tinually upon his lips. It was said of him: " Well, 
what a change ! " Now, alas, we again have to say, 
" What a change! " You never hear the name of 
Christ upon his lips now. Instead of his Master's 
name being read upon his brow, unhappiness and 
discontent are seen there. He has not lost salva- 
tion, but the joy and happiness of it have vanished 
from his soul, and power for testimony has gone 



"TRUMPETS!" 51 

from his life. Now, here is a trumpet blast for the 
backslider: 

"wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, 
and arise from the dead, and christ shall give 
thee light." 1 

Backslider, why are you sleeping ? Turn to the 
book of Judges, in the Old Testament, chap. 16 : 
1-2 1, "And Delilah made Samson sleep upon her 
knees ; and she called for a man, and she caused 
him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and 
she began to afflict him, and his strength went from 
him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, 
Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, 
I will go out as at other times before, and shake 
myself. And he wist not that the Lord was de- 
parted from him. But the Philistines took him and 
put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, 
and bound him with fetters of brass, and he did 
grind in the prison house." Ah, poor backslider, 
your head is on Delilah's lap now — it is on the 
world's bosom. Once you nestled 

ON THE LORD'S BOSOM, 

that you might learn the deep throbbings of that 
blessed heart, filled with eternal love for you. And 
now you repose 

ON THE WORLD'S LAP ! 

Poor backslider, your spiritual eyesight is gone ! 
Of course you neither see nor enjoy the precious- 
ness and beauty of God's word now. It has grown 
dull to you. You take it up as a mere duty. You 
1 Eph. 5 ; 14. 



52 " TRUMPETS !" 

find more delight in the newspaper or the novel. 
The world makes sport of you. Listen to their con- 
versation about you: "He confessed Jesus once, 
but there was nothing in it; he goes to the shows 
and attends the race-track, just as we do." That is 
how the world scoffs at and makes sport of you. 

Backslider, come back to the Lord to-night! 
Awake, arise from among the dead, and Christ will 
shine upon thee. Oh, to get those blessed rays of 
light from Him once more in your soul! Oh, to be 
once more in His company! Remember, He has 
not altered; He pities and loves you still. If you 
will come back to the Lord to-night, He will wel- 
come you. The devil, I know, will keep you away 
as long as he can; but Jesus intercedes for you, and 
waits for your confession and return. 

A man once dreamt that the devil was presiding 
among his subordinates. One emissary said, " I 
got a lot of Christians on a ship, and raised a storm 
and sank the vessel, and they were all drowned/' 
And the devil said, "That is no good, because they 
all went to glory/' Another emissary said, "I 
set the world against a number of Christians, and 
they were burnt at the stake." And the devil re- 
joined, ' ' What is the good of that ? Their souls went 
to glory." Another dark fiend reported that he 
stood for ten years by the side of a Christian, and 
did his best to get him off to sleep; at last he suc- 
ceeded, and he left him sleeping. At this the devil 
rejoiced, and the hosts of hell added their plaudits. 

Oh, sleeping backslider, awake! awake! 

THE SLEEP OF DEATH IS UPON YOU! 



"TRUMPETS!" 53 

Awake! Look up to your Lord in heaven; tell 
Him everything — spare not yourself. Judge your- 
self in His presence. Have all out with Him. Go 
back to the very point where you left your Lord. 
Have no reserves with Jesus ; make full and frank 
confession, and He will restore to you the joy of 
salvation. The point of departure is the point of 
recovery. Return to the former and you will know 
the blessing of the latter. Seek the face of your 
gracious though offended Lord. Tell Him all, and, 
while you seek His forgiving grace, let Him show 
you how you have gone astray. 

In closing, let me sound a trumpet note for Chris- 
tians, a beautiful note — "For the Lord Himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel and with the trump of God, and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which 
are alive and remain shall be caught up together 
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; 
and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 

It is said that in the ancient Grecian games they 
had a racecourse a furlong in length. There were 
three pillars erected in the course ; one at the be- 
ginning, upon which was written, " Show yourself 
a man;" the second was placed midway, and had 
inscribed upon it, "Make haste;" the third was 
fixed at the end, and bore the sentence, "Arrest 
your steps." 

When the Christian started on his heavenward 
course, God said, "Quit you like men;" 2 then 
we hear Him say to us, "Make haste." Our desire 
n Thess. 4; 16, 17. 2 1 Cor. 16: 13. 



54 "TRUMPETS!" 

should be to be active for God in our earthly 
journey; to run on His errands; to go about 
doing good, like our Master; to be guided and led 
by the Holy Spirit, and to win others for Christ. 
Then, as we finish our course, we shall hear: 

"arrest your steps ! " 

Won't that be glorious when we hear that lovely 
bugle note, "Arrest your steps! " and we rise from 
earth to meet the Lord in the air. The Lord is 
coming for His people, and the return of Jesus for 
us is near. We are, I believe, just on the verge 
of it, and we wait and look for the time when He 
shall leave the throne and come into the air, and 
by His own mighty power catch away to glory every 
blood-bought saint. Does it not make your heart 
burn as you hear the sweet words of Jesus, saying, 
"I am coming?" Yes, Christ is coming for us. 
Till He come, let your hearts beat for Him, your 
whole being be consecrated to Him, and say, "Lord 
Jesus, it will be my delight to hear Thy shout in 
the air, and to dwell in yon glory-home with Thee 
for ever." Thank God for that bugle note. 

But you, unsaved hearers, if you receive not Je- 
sus as your Saviour, remember there is the lake of 
fire for those who despise or refuse Him. I charge 
you, men and women, rest not until you have Him 
as your precious Redeemer. If you die without 
Him, or if you are unsaved when He comes, you 
must be shut out from His bright presence for ever. 
Oh, that God may thrill your souls by this appeal 
to-night, and bring every unsaved one to Christ. 

Amen. 



JUDGMENT! 



I will speak on the subject of "Judgment" to- 
night, and I turn to four passages of Scripture: 

Kev. 20: 11-15 — "And I saw a great white throne, and Him 
that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
away; and there was fonnd no place for them. And I saw the 
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were 
opened ; and another book was opened, which is the book of life ; 
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written 
in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the 
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead 
which were in them ; and they were judged every man according 
to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. 
This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written 
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. ' ' 

Matthew 27 : 46 : "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with 
a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, 
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? " 

John 5: 24 — "Verily, verily. I say unto you, He that heareth 
my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death 
unto life." 

2 Cor. 5: 10 — "For we must all appear before the judgment 
seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his 
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 

THE JUDGMENT OP THE GREAT WHITE 
THRONE. 

There are two or three occasions in the New 
Testament in which our Lord draws aside for us 
the curtain of time, to direct our gaze into the un- 
seen world — into eternity. 



56 JUDMENT! 

Such an instance you will find in the 16th chapter 
of St. Luke, in the well-known parable of the Rich 
Man and Lazarus. 

THE ETERNAL FUTURE 

is discovered to us there — whether it be of eternal 
bliss or of eternal woe. Again, in the 20th chapter 
of Revelation, we are placed, so to speak, on the 
border of eternity — time ceases to be. The heavens 
and the earth flee away from the presence of Him 
that sits upon the Eternal Throne, and those that 
were dead now stand before Him for judgment. 

Have you, my hearers, ever gazed into eternity? 
It truly " staggers humanity !" It is the moment 
of moments in a man's life when God, as it were, 
places His hand upon him, and says to him, "Look 
into the Great Beyond! " In view of this, ask your- 
self: Where shall I spend eternity? 

What is eternity ? It is 

THE LIFETIME OF GOD. 

Ah, ye infidels, ye skeptics here to-night — ye who 
profess to deny the immortality of the soul, I tell 
you that every man has 

AN ETERNAL EXISTENCE. 

God created him an immortal being, and his fall 
has in no way touched or altered that, as to his 
soul. Have you never learnt the difference be- 
tween eternal life and eternal existence ? The devil 
has the latter, but, certainly, he possesses not the 
former. Only the Christian has eternal life, through 
faith in the Son of God. But every man has an 
eternal existence. 



JUDGMENT! 57 

When that suicide hurried his soul out of this 
world, did it end his being ? Oh, no ; he still ex- 
ists. Answering the Sadducees, who denied the 
resurrection, the Lord said to them : "As to the 
resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that 
which was spoken unto you by God, saying, lam 
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
God of Jacob ? — God is not the God of the dead, but 
of the living" x l ' for all live unto Him. " 2 They may 
have passed away from our sight, but not from 
God's. My friends, you must live for ever, either 
with God in His bright glory, on the ground of the 
redemption work of Jesus, or away from Him in 
eternal gloom. Which will it be ? 

" I saw a Great White Throne, and Him that sat 
upon it." Why does the apostle John not say, 
* ' Jesus, " instead of ' ' Him ? " We know it is the Sa- 
viour who sits there, for we read that " the Father 
judge tli no man, but hath committed all judgment 
unto the Son." 3 Yes, the same One who was dis- 
pised and down-trodden, and rejected on this earth, 
has all judgment placed in His hands, and is 

THE JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND OF THE DEAD. 

John is so awed by the awful glory of this judg- 
ment-scene, and by the appearance of the Lord as 
the righteous Judge who sits upon the throne, that 
he can only say, "Him that sat upon it." Well might 
his soul feel the awfulness of the moment, and 
would to God that everyone here to-night might 
feel the same. 

O men and women, do not question, I beseech 

1 Matt. 22: 31, 32. 2 Luke 20: 38. 3 John 5: 22. 



58 JUDGMENT! 

you, the righteousness of Divine judgment. Do 
not lend your ears to those who would fain persuade 
you that when you die there is an end of you, or 
that the judgment of God is but temporary, as last- 
ing only for a certain period. Oh, turn from these 
wretched fables, and listen to the declaration of the 
inspired Word of God. But, you say, " There are 
good men who tell us that hell is not everlasting." 
"Good" men, do you say? Good men, forsooth! 
How can such men be good who deny the plain 
statements of the Scriptures ? Jesus speaks of 
"hell fire, where their worm dieth not and the fire 
is not quenched." 1 "Let God be true, but every 
man a liar." 2 My friends, depend upon it, that as 
God is eternal, so shall His blessing be upon tho 
sinner that comes to Jesus; and so shall His judg- 
ment be upon all who cling to their sins and reject 
the Son of God. 

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand be- 
fore God." What an awful death it is to "die in 
your sins! " 3 And, remember, that to die without 
Christ is to die in your sins. As you sit here to- 
night, O unsaved man, your terrible position is 
this — you live "without Christ," "without God," 
and "without hope." 4 If you die as you are, you 
die "without mercy," 5 and for ever and ever you 
will be "without" the heavenly city. 6 What 

FEARFUL "WITHOUTS" 

are these ! 

I have heard folks say of the death of men who 
have apparently lived careless and regardless of 
1 Mark 9 : 44, 48. 2 Kom. 3 : 4. 3 John 8 : 24. 

4 Epk. 2:12. 5 Heb. 10:28. 6 Eev. 22: 15. 



JUDGMENT! 59 

their souls, "He died like a lamb." Aye, so it may 
have seemed ; but who shall tell the agonies of that 
soul who passes hence unsaved? What shall arouse 
you, ye careless sinners ? Your sins are damning 
you! The judgment of God awaits you! Time is 
on the wing ; a few more beats of the heart and 
you are gone ! Yet you are neither alive to your 
danger nor to your need of Christ. 

See that canoe moored to the river bank, with 
its owner asleep in it. Somehow it gets loose from 
its mooring and quietly glides down the stream. 
Its occupant sleeps, unconscious of everything. 
The rapids are ahead ; the boat reaches them, and 
its pace is quickened. Bystanders on the river bank 
shout to see if anyone is in it. No response comes. 
They shout louder. No answer, but the echo of 
their own voice. "Thank God," they say, "no 
one is in it." The rapids have increased, and on 
and on the craft is borne. Hark, what is that ? 
'Tis the roar of the cataract; it falls upon the ear 
of the sleeping man. He awakes! At one glance 
he sees his danger. He tries to turn the boat, but 
he might as well try to turnback the waters. There 
is one chance ; a rock rears its head out of the 
rapids ; he seeks to lay hold of it as the canoe 
shoots by; he fails; a few more yards, and alas, 
man and boat are swept over the falls and are seen 
no more ! 

Oh, sinner, in this illustration learn your own 
position, voyaging through life in thy frail canoe. 
The gospel preachers warn you, plead with you, 
but you are as the deaf adder "that stoppeth her 
ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charm- 



60 JUDGMENT! 

ers, charming never so wisely." 1 But what our 
voices fail to do, the 

ROAR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT 

will do. Then you'll wake up, but 'twill be too late. 
You will be swept by the overwhelming flood into 
a lost eternity ! 2 

"The dead, small and great." Who are they? 
All who have ever died in their sins. The mightiest 
monarch, the lowliest menial, the wealthiest mil- 
lionaire, the meanest mendicant, the highest born, 
the lowest bred, the refined and the rough, the in- 
telligent and the ignorant, the murderer and his 
victim, the deceiver and the deceived — all will be 
there, standing before the judgment throne. 3 But 
no believer in Jesus shall stand there. The al- 
mighty power of Christ will bring up the dead in 
this resurrection to judgment. It is the 

FINAL GREAT ASSIZE, 

before which every unsaved person shall appear 
and confront the history of his life on earth. 

"AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED." 

What are these ? I have no doubt they are 

The Register of Your Life, and 
The Word of God. 

And then another book is opened: 

The Lamb's Book of Life. 

Would you care to have the register of your life 
read out before this audience ? Would any uncon- 

2 Ps. 58: 4, 5. 2 Rev. 21: 8. 3 Eev. 20: 12. 



JUDGMENT? Gl 

verted person like to have his deeds exposed to our 
gaze this evening ? I trow not. How will the hypo- 
crite stand there ? How shall the Christless professor 
stand before that Judge who sees the thoughts and 
intents of the heart ? * 

CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT CHRIST ! 

Men and women, if in this hall some of your sins 
were written up for all to see, you would rush 
away from the meeting. A cold sweat would pour 
down some man's face if his guilt were exposed 
here to-night. 

Men and women, our lives shall be manifested in 
the presence of all. The register kept in heaven 
is a faithful and accurate record. There are no 
errors there. Perhaps you are saying, "What about 
yourself, preacher ? " Oh, let me tell you that my 
guilt is as deep as yours, my sins as countless, my 
heart is as yours ; but, blessed be God, He has drawn 
me to Himself through His Son. He has saved me 
by His grace. He has assured me by His Word that 
the guilt of my life has been answered for and fully 
met by the precious blood of Christ ; and, my 
friends, the God who has done this for me, is the 
God who would find His deep delight in blessing 
you after the same fashion this very hour. If you 
have not come to Him before, oh come to Him now. 

THE WORD OF GOD OPENED 

The Word which men have refused, the Word to 
which they were disobedient upon earth, shall be 
opened. Has not the Saviour said, "The word 

1 Heb. 4: 12. 



62 JUDGMENT! 

that I have spoken, the same shall judge him 
in the last day." 1 I believe that every Christ- 
rejecter will be confronted with some scripture 
which, some time or other in his lifetime, was a 
direct appeal from God to his soul, and which he 
deliberately refused. Just like a lady I heard of 
who, during a gospel address, coolly rose from her 
seat and walked out. She said afterwards to a 
friend, "I wouldn't stay any longer, or I must have 
been converted, and that I did not want!" Ah, 
there will be many a man and woman who will 
have to say, "Lord, I trembled under a gospel ap- 
peal, but I made up my mind not to be converted." 
Oh, sinner, the very page of Scripture you scorned 
shall be read against you in the judgment. Aye, 
that which might have been your salvation now 
will be your condemnation then. 

"Another book was opened — the book of life." 2 
The present day is a great one for registration. 
Land titles are registered; births, marriages, and 
deaths must, by law, be duly recorded ; commer- 
cial companies are registered, and shareholders' 
names; and how careful you are to be duly regis- 
tered as such. 

A WONDERFUL REGISTER 

is kept in heaven, and yet you have never been in 
the slightest degree anxious to ascertain whether 
or not your name is enrolled in that book — the 
Lamb's Book of Life. 

I read of a soldier mortally wounded on the battle- 
field. The Christian surgeon attending him saw 

^ohn 12: 48. 2 Eev. 20: 12. 



JUDGMENT! 63 

he was dying, and bending down whispered in his 
ear: "Brother, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." A smile crossed the 
dying face, and the soldier said, "Hush!" and 
pointing his finger heavenward, as if he heard the 
calling of the muster roll, he answered, "Here!" 
and he passed away. His name was written in 
heaven. Is yours there ? It may be in your 
church's communion roll ; but, my friend, that is 
only for time. What about eternity? Think of 
that judgment scene, when the Book of Life is 
opened in the presence of God, of angels and of 
men; and, 

IF YOUR NAME IS MISSING, 

there will be no use to plead that you were a 
church communicant, a baptized professor, an ordi- 
nance observer. None of these things avail for 
eternity. Truly the Christian ordinances have their 
place in time and for time, but they give no title 
to dwell with God in glory. Unsaved hearer, think 
of what it will be to die in your present condition, 
to stand before the Great White Throne, and pass 
into an everlasting hell with the knowledge of your 
terrible guilt and the sin of rejecting Christ! 

"They were judged every man according to their 
works." 1 Mark these words, 

"according to their works." 

All will come out there. It will be a day of great 
disclosures ; and judgment will be "according to 
your works." Sinner, how will it fare with you? 

^ev. 20: 13. 



64 JUDGMENT! 

Christless professor, how with you ? " Whosoever 
was not found written in the Book of Life was cast 
into the lake of fire ! " 1 Do you say, "Oh, 'tis only 
a figure; I don't believe in a real hell-fire." My 
hearers, z/* it is a figure, it is 

A FIGURE OF REALITY; 

and if the figure is so awful, what must the reality 
be! "The Lake of Fire!" Oh, don't trifle with 
God! An escape from this terrible judgment is 
afforded you to-night ; shelter provided in Jesus. 
Flee, then, to Him. Come to God, through Christ, 
and your song of praise shall be unto Him "who 
hath delivered us from the wrath to come." 2 

THE JUDGMENT OF THE CROSS 

I turn to the second text: "My God, my God, why 
hast hast Thou forsaken Me ? " 3 Oh, for speech to 
sound forth suitable praises unto God for the gift 
of His Son for us ! Oh, for broken hearts, as we 
dwell upon the Cross of our precious Saviour, 
through which the gospel blessings flow down to 
us! The dark picture of the coming judgment, 
which has so far occupied us this evening, will 
throw into brighter relief the grace of God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I asked a lady the other day what these words 
meant : " My God. my God, why hast Thou for- 
saken Me ? " She was troubled about her soul, and 
yet ignorant of the way of peace, going hither and 
thither to hear all kinds of preachers, but finding 
no rest. She answered that she did not know. I 

iRev. 20: 15. 2 1 Tbess. 1: 10. 3 Matt. 27: 16. 



JUDGMENT! 65 

then said that to obtain abiding peace she must 
understand something of those words, and I sought 
to explain what they teach us. We prayed together ; 
and before parting, she joyfully exclaimed that she 
had found 

THE REST FOR HER SOUL 

which for years she had desired to possess. 

Let me tell you what was told her. Jesus, the 
eternal Son of God, became a Man, and passed 
through this world the only perfect One ever in it. 
How was it, then, that God should forsake Him who 
was perfectly righteous and holy ? The Unitarian 
would tell us that Jesus died a martyr's death only. 
True it is that He was martyred by this wicked 
world for His righteousness, suffering from men 
on account of His perfect and holy ways, which did 
but condemn His enemies. But 

GOD DOES NOT FORSAKE MARTYRS. 

In those bygone years, when Rome wickedly 
tortured and burned godly Christians at the stake, 
think you that God forsook His beloved witnesses ? 
No, no ! What sustained their hearts in the " fiery 
trial " was the divinely-given sense of His change- 
less love and the blessedness of His presence with 
them. But on the cross God forsook His Son ! 
There must be something here far beyond mere 
martyrdom. Jesus had undertaken to meet God's 
righteous claims against sin ; to stand for sinners 
before God; to take His people's guilt upon Him- 
self, with all the consequences; to bear the judg- 
ment of sin; to pass beneath the wrath of God; to 



66 JUDGMENT! 

travel into the unmeasured distance in which we 
lay from Him ; to meet 

THE FLOOD-TIDE OF DIVINE JUDGMENT; 

in a word, to feel in His own soul what separation 
from God was on account of our sin. 

Yes, in deepest grace, the blessed Son has "suffered 
for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might 
bring us to God." 1 " Suffered !" Yes, suffered 
under the just judgment of God — Jesus made the 
sin-bearer — forsaken, deserted by God Himself, 
who is of " purer eyes than to behold evil." 2 Well 
may the heart exclaim : 

"hallelujah, what a saviour!" 

And remember, that it was in His love for this 
guilty world that God "gave His only begotten 
Son." Judge sin God must — such is His holiness. 
Love to the sinner of necessity He has — for God is 
love. Thus His love furnished what His holiness 
required : 

LOVE HAS GIVEN, AND HOLINESS HAS JUDGED. 

The Victim, given in love, was judged in holiness, 
Both love and holiness were displayed in the Cross. 
True love always expresses itself. I heard of a 
charity meeting, where the case of a man, hard up, 
was brought forward. After several present had 
expressed their pity in words, another arose and 
said, "Well, gentlemen, I pity him $25," and he 
placed the money on the table. This was a practi- 
cal demonstration of his compassion, worth more 
than a lot of soft speeches. What has God said ? 
n Pet. 3:18. Hab. 1: 13. 



JUDGMENT! 67 

He "so loved the world !" And does He stop 
there ? Oh, no! " He gave His only begotten Son/ 1 * 
Here is the glorious expression of His mighty love: 
"He loved," "He gave." 

And note this, that God well knew that His giv- 
ing His Son would mean His bearing judgment for 
us. A gentleman might send his son on an errand 
of mercy to a poor and sick man's home with some- 
thing to meet his need, and that youth might be 
insulted and ill-treated by some of the sick man's 
boys. On his return, the gentleman would say, in 
the fulness of a father's heart, "My son, if I had 
known how you were going to be treated, I would 
not have sent you." But God — He well knew how 
ill-treated His Son would be when on His errand 
of mercy in this dark world — scoffed at, mocked, 
derided, spat upon, buffeted, thorn-crowned, and 
crucified. * Yes, He 



and yet He did not withhold Him, but "delivered 
Him up for us all." 2 Aye, and God knew how that 
His beloved Son would have to bear sin's just 
judgment; how that all Jehovah's waves and bil- 
lows would roll over Him ; 3 how that the cup of 
wrath must be taken and drained by Jesus to en- 
able us, poor, guilty sinners, to be in yon bright 
glory-home. Oh, what love is God's ; how wonder- 
fully expressed! Well may we sing • 

Jesus bruised and put to shame, 
Tells the glories of God's name ; 

*Matt 26: 67,68; 27: 26-31. 2 Eom. 8: 32. 3 Ps. 42: 7. 



68 JUDGMENT! 

Holy judgment there I found, 
Grace did there o'er sin abound. 

God is love I surely know, 
In the Saviour's depth of woe, 
In the Sinless, in God's sight, 
Sin is justly brought to light. 

In His spotless soul's distress, 
I have learnt my guiltiness ; 
Oh, how vile my low estate, 
Since my ransom was so great ! 

God in His boundless love has given His only 
Son, the object of His heart's affections, for the 
dark sinner whose heart is at enmity towards Him ! 
One of the old Welsh preachers used to picture 
the world as a vast cemetery, with rusted iron 
gates, closed and barred, and guarded by the angel 
Justice. One day Mercy descended from heaven 
to enter that cemetery. About to unbar the gates, 
Justice with naked flaming sword thundered, "For- 
bear! My claims are unmet, and my demands must 
first be satisfied before you enter there !" Mercy 
then flew back to heaven. But the Son of God 
came forward, saying, "Mercy must enter yon 
graveyard; I will meet the claims of Justice/' He 
came, as He had said. Justice's sword was plunged 
in His side ; His blood flowed, and He died, saying, 
"It is finished!" The cemetery gates then were 
flung open, and troops of heavenly heralds went in 
amongst the tombs ringing out the good news, 
" Life for the dead ! Life for the dead! " 

My hearers, the blessed Son of God came from 
His palace of eternal glory down to Calvary, where 



JUDGMENT! 69 

He sustained the full weight of God's judgment 
against sin; 1 He met every claim of God's holiness, 
He has satisfied every demand of Justice, He has 
4 'put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself," 2 and in 
answer to His atoning work, not only is the gospel 
heralded forth in this world-cemetery, but 

THE GLORY GATES ARE FLUNG OPEN 

and God can righteously welcome there the repent- 
ant sinner that comes to Him through Jesus. 

Fellow-believers, lift up your hearts in praise to 
your Saviour-God, as you recall that Jesus has been 
in the darkness that you might be in the light. He 
has been in death, that you might have eternal life; 
He was forsaken, in order that the sunshine of 
God's eternal favor might rest upon you for ever. 

And where, let me ask you, is Jesus now ? He 
sits upon the eternal throne. 3 The storm of Calvary 
is over, and the Victor 

SITS AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND 

in glory. We learn from this that God has been 
perfectly vindicated and eternally glorified with 
what Christ has done. God Himself raised Jesus 
from among the dead and set Him at His own right 
hand. 4 I don't think the devil likes to hear us 
speak about the resurrection and glorification of 
Christ, for these are the proofs of the completeness 
of our Lord's victory and of Satan's defeat. 

Faith looks up and sees the Saviour in glory, 
and the glory of God in His face. 5 It does my soul 

l 2 Cor. 5:21. 2 Heb. 9:26. 3 Heb.8:l. 
4 Rom. 4: 24, 25. 5 2 Cor. 4: 6. 



70 JUDGMENT! 

good to look up there, and to say, "Lord, let my 
heart be ever open to catch the bright rays of glory 
from Thy face, which tell me, Lord, that Thou 
hast by Thy Cross removed all my sins from God's 
sight and set me free for ever to praise and adore 
Thee." 

O you who are in the serfdom of the devil, slaves 
to your own passions and lusts, as you have listened 
to this wonderful story of grace, say, will you not 
have the pardon and the deliverance which God 
bestows on all who come to Him ? Oh, come to 
Him now; come in His own appointed way ; come 
in the name of His Son, and these blessings shall 
be yours. 

Turn now to John 5 : 24 — "Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth 
on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and 
shall not come into judgment, but is passed from 
death unto life." 

"SHALL NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT." 

This is the result of the work of Christ for the 
believer. 

There is a well-known story of an Englishman 
in Cuba, who was found guilty of crime by the 
Spanish Government, and was sentenced to be shot. 
Both the English and American Consuls were as- 
sured of his innocence, but they could not succeed 
in obtaining a remission of the death sentence. On 
the day set for his execution, the two consuls, with 
the flags of their respective nations, came out, and 
throwing the flags over the prisoner, they shouted, 
"Fire, if you dare!" Not a rifle was raised. To 



JUDGMENT! 71 

fire would have drawn down upon Spain the anger 
of both Britain and the United States for insult to 
their flags; and the man was afterwards liberated. 

Show me a sinner under cover of the blood of the 
Lamb, and we will say he is protected by the right- 
eousness and glory of God. So the apostle says, 
"Who is He that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at 
the right hand of God, who also maketh interces- 
sion for us." 1 So that we can say to Satan, the 
accuser, triumphantly: 

"fire, if you dare ! " 
Oh, blessed refuge for every believer in Jesus. 
Christ having died for their sins, it is plain that 
they go free; He having borne the judgment that 
was their due, they escape it. How great and noble 
this divine provision! And why should you not 
thankfully receive it now ? 

In the time of the great Napoleon, a man who 
did not want to go to war procured a substitute, 
who eventually was killed in a battle. When more 
soldiers were needed, this man was called again; 
he refused to go. "I have died," he said. They 
laughed and said, "Where did you die?" "At 
such a battle," he answered, and asked them to 
search the records. They found the case to be as 
the man said — his name entered, and struck out as 
"killed." They then said, "You didn't die; it must 
have been a substitute" "Yes," said he, "it was 
my substitute, but 

HIS DEATH IS MY DEATH, 

and you cannot claim me." The case was taken 
^om. 8; 34. 



72 JUDGMENT! 

before Napoleon, who decided in the man's favor, 
and he was free. Oh, sinner, receive this wonder- 
ful provision which God has made for lis, as a little 
child receives from its parents. Instead of reason- 
ing and questioning, receive God's grace as a little 
child. If you want to reason out the matter, let 
me show you heaven's way of argument. Here it 
is : "Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they 
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool." 1 Gracious and 
lovely argument, is it not ? 

MAGNIFICENT AND DIVINE LOGIC ! 

I infinitely prefer listening to that than to any Uni- 
versity logic or scholastic philosophy. 

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST 

Now to our last text, 2 Cor. 5 : 10: "For we must 
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that 
every one may receive the things done in his body, 
according to that he hath done, whether good or 
bad." 

It is plain, from the language of this verse, that 
both saved and unsaved must appear before the 
judgment seat of Christ ; and it is just as evident 
from other scriptures that it will not be at the 
same time, nor both together. For the unbeliever, 
this judgment seat will be at the Great White 
Throne of Rev. chap. 20, on which I have already 
spoken, which will be at least 1000 years after the 
^sa. 1: 18. 



JUDGMENT! 73 

believer has appeared before the judgment seat of 
Christ. It is of the 

believer's manifestation 

before it that I wish to speak. 

Now, fellow-believer, rest assured of this, that 
your person is never coming into judgment; for al- 
ready you have been judged in the person of an- 
other, even Jesus. Be clear about this — you will 
never come into judgment — as our Lord declared 
in John 5 : 24. Your own precious Saviour will be 
the Judge, and He will never judge you for what 
He has borne for you, for " His own self bare our 
sins in His own body on the tree." 1 To do so, would 
be to call in question the value of His redemption 
work. Do not think, either, that at the judgment 
seat it will be determined whether or not you are 
to be in heaven or hell. Dismiss from your minds 
such thoughts, and delight your soul in the truth 
that the atoning sacrifice of Christ has eternally 
secured to you a place with Him in glory. 

Paul and Peter have both been with the Lord 
more than 1800 years, and are they to be placed 
before the judgment seat in order to decide whether 
they shall be justified or condemned ? How absurd 
is such a thought ! 

Then for what reason are Christians to be mani- 
fested there ? Now, let me say, that I have not 
the slightest doubt that 

OUR WHOLE HISTORY ON EARTH 

will be manifested there — not only since conversion, 

but our whole history. The apostle Paul writes, 

^Pet. 2: 24. 



74 JUDGMENT! 

"So, then, every one of us shall give account of 
himself to God. " * This should be conclusive upon 
the point. But some may enquire, "Does that 
agree with what you have already told us, "Their 
sins and iniquities will I remember no more ? " 2 
Certainly; all is in accord, for 

SCRIPTURE NEVER CONTRADICTS ITSELF. 

Thank God, my sins and iniquities will be remem- 
bered no more in the way of judgment ! They were 
remembered and placed to the Saviour's account 
at Calvary; and in justice to the sacrifice whereby 
they were put away, they can never be recalled for 
my condemnation. But they will be reviewed, with 
the rest of my life, before the judgment seat of 
Christ. What do we Christians here know of the 
extent of our guilt ? What know we of our sins, 
the multitude of our transgressions ? What know 
we of ourselves ? Why it seems to me that in these 
mortal bodies we could not fully know our badness. 
We could not bear it. We have, blessed be God, 
in some measure learnt in the death of Jesus what 
sin is and what we are. But up there, in the light 
of the glory, we shall read over with the Saviour 
the two books of our life — one a record of what we 
had done as sinners, the other as saints. 

Methinks we shall there say, "We never thought 
our guilt was so enormous! " And oh, what a burst 
of praise shall ascend to Him whose precious blood 
has put it all away for ever ! And then our works 
since we have known the Lord will be reviewed ; 
and such as have been for the glory of Christ shall 

^om. 14: 12. 2 Heb. 10: 17. 



JUDGMENT! 75 

appear to His praise as the fruit of His own pre- 
cious grace working in us, and the rest will be 

BURNT UP AS WORTHLESS. 1 

The Lord Jesus will reward us for what has been 
for Him in our Christian career here ; and we shall 
find our joy in casting the crowns He may give us 
before the Throne, and in saying, " Thou only art 
worthy, O Lord/' Nothing that has been to His 
glory in our pathway here will be forgotten by 
Him — He will reward, and He will love to do it. 
And when we retrace in that day with Him our 
pilgrimage journey, shall we not wonder at the 
love which bore with such a failing people, and at 
the patience and gentleness of our Lord with each 
one of us ? How all this will still call forth from 
the ransomed hosts the hallelujahs of praise to 
Him! 

Such shall be the judgment seat of Christ for 
believers. They will stand there in 

GLORIFIED BODIES, 2 

like Christ's, and conformed to His image — not for 
judgment, but for reward. 

Now, as I close, let me once more appeal to 
every unconverted person here. Do not hesitate, 
my friend, any longer ; procrastinate no more, but 
flee, oh, flee at once to Jesus, and find in Him an 
eternal shelter from the storm of judgment that 
shall soon sweep over lifeless Christendom. 

THE STORM IS COMING. 

The gathering clouds will burst in judgment over 
l l Cor. 3: 13-15. 2 Phil. 3: 20, 21. 



76 JUDGMENT! 

this guilty world. The coming of the Lord draws 
nigh. He is coming to call away His ransomed 
people, and will take them home to His Father's 
house. The moment He comes, the door of salva- 
tion will be closed. Are you ready ? Think how 
God would welcome you ; how the blessed Spirit 
strives with you ; how we Christians are praying 
for you. Delay not, but come at once, 

AND HE WILL RECEIVE YOU. 

Let me borrow a Welsh parable, and adapt it to 
your case. You live in a pleasant residence on the 
outskirts of the city. As I pass by your home one 
day, I see a person standing on your door-step; his 
hand is on the knocker. He knocks, and waits. I 
watch him for a moment, and pass on. Returning 
soon, I notice he is still there — knocking, knocking. 
I address him, "Good sir, knock louder; I am sure 
they are at home. What a shame to keep you wait- 
ing so long — knock louder!" The next day, in 
passing, I am grieved to see him there still, pa- 
tiently waiting. Indignantly I cry, " Do not trouble 
with them any longer; they are not worth it, sir." 
He looks at me, and gently replies, "I so want 
them to know me; " and as I meet His gaze I no- 
tice His hands and His side are pierced, and I ex- 
claim in wonder, "It is the Lord ! " 

Sinner, He stands before thee to-night ; wilt 
thou receive or refuse Him ? May God give you to 
receive Him now. Amen. 



THE BLOOD 



"For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will 
smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast ; 
and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment : I am 
the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the 
houses where ye are : and when I see the blood, I will pass over 
you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I 
smite the land of Egypt " (Exod. 12 : 12, 13). 

MY subject to-night is " The precious blood of 
Christ." Sweet and sacred theme; is it not ? 

I suppose that almost every one in this hall is 
acquainted with the narrative in these early chap- 
ters in Exodus concerning the children of Israel, 
their dwelling in the Egyptians' land, and their 
oppression by the proud Pharaoh. We read that 
" there arose up a new king over Egypt, which 
knew not Joseph," 1 and that under his direction 
"the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve 
with rigor," until, at last, the Israelites "sighed by 
reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their 
cry came up unto God." And then we read, "God 
heard their groaning, and God remembered His 
covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Ja- 
cob, and God looked upon the children of Israel, 
and God had respect unto them." 2 

Now I want to use the oppressed Israelite as a 

true picture of every sinner still under Satan's 

thraldom, still under the sway and tyranny of the 

Pharaoh of this present world, even him who is its 

^xod. 1: 8. 2 Exod. 2: 23-25. 



78 THE BLOOD 

God and prince — the devil ; l and I desire that you 
may in the history of the bondage-ridden Israelite 
learn your own. 

Oh, unsaved one, you are, whether you believe 
it or not, a poor slave of the devil, and without 
power or ability to emancipate yourself from his 
serfdom. Satan is the 

GREAT SLAVE-OWNER 

in this world. It has cost precious lives and mil- 
lions of dollars to procure the emancipation of 
slaves in bygone years; but neither all the wealth 
of the world, nor all the united efforts and energies 
of the human race, could accomplish the liberation 
of one individual under the devil's bondage. 

The good news which, thank God, I have for you 
to-night is, that what men could not do, Jesus, the 
blessed Son of God, has done, and that by His glo- 
rious work upon the cross — yea, at the cost of His 
precious blood — deliverance has been purchased, 
and is now, through the gospel, presented to the 
slaves of Satan. 

Now let me ask you, Do you believe that you are 
under the devil's power and thraldom ? We read 
and speak of men and women who are slaves to cer- 
tain sins and lusts; but, my hearers, "The whole 
world lieth in the wicked one." 2 Every uncon- 
verted person here to-night, whether moral or im- 
moral, professor or scoffer, is under the regime, the 
sway, the control of Satan. This is a solemn real- 
ity, and I hope you may see it, and own it to God 
Himself. 

*2 Cor. 4: 4; John 14: 30. 2 1 John 5; 19 (E. V). 



THE BLOOD 79 

Listen to that sigh, that groan, which arose from 
those Israelites, and which reached the ear of the 
living God. Has He ever heard such from you ? 
He delights to hear the sigh of a broken-hearted 
sinner. 

This is a great day for music; and I have some- 
times feared lest the beautiful music of these days 
should be one of the 

devil's lullabies to put people to sleep. 

Mind you, I say not that there is harm in music 
itself, but in people using it to make themselves 
happy away from God. It was so in Cain's city, 
where they had the harp and the organ ; * and so, 
alas, it is to-day. Yes, the world has its music — 
its splendid oratorios, its sacred concerts — but I am 
persuaded that heaven is not charmed by it, as it 
comes from unsanctified hearts. But, thank God, 
there is a note that can be sounded forth by men 
which thrills heaven itself — it is the groan of a con- 
victed sinner — the cry of one who has discovered 
his lost condition, his sinfulness, and his slavery to 
Satan — 

A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART ! 

This suits the great Searcher of hearts. Has He 
heard it from you, sinner ? Oh, think of His con- 
descending grace, as He bends to hearken to the 
cry of distress by reason of thy sins and of thy bon- 
dage. Hast thou disappointed Him, or has He 
heard from thee the sweet notes of a contrite heart ? 
In Luke, 15th chap., we read, " There is joy in 

^en. 4: 21. 



80 THE BLOOD 

the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth." Think of that ! God finding His 
joy when one sinner repenteth! Let Him have that 
joy from thee to-night. Come to Him just as thou 
art; tell Him all the truth. Say that thou art un- 
der the devil's power, wholly unable to emancipate 
thyself, and God's deliverance shall be thy portion. 
Yes, deliverance from thy sins, and deliverance 
from Satan's power. 

How did He answer the cry of the Israelites ? 
He says, 

"he remembered his covenant." 

And if any sinner will now come to God in true re- 
pentance, God will remember "the blood of the 
everlasting covenant." Yes, He remembers the 
atoning sufferings, the dying agonies, the expi- 
atory work of His beloved Son. These are as fresh 
in His sight as though they were the event of this 
very moment, and all their virtue and efficacy in 
the sight of the living God will be applied by 
Him to any soul that will approach Him through 
Jesus. 

Now I want to get on to chap. 12, to the verses 
we read; but let me say here that we get two 
things brought out up to chap. 15. First, there is 
shelter from God's judgment by the blood of the 
paschal lamb ; then deliverance, by means of the 
Red Sea, from Pharaoh and from Egypt, the very 
scene of judgment. Both of these blessings belong 
to the Christian ; he is under the shelter of the 
blood ; and in the death of Christ, of which the Red 
Sea is a type, he has been delivered from Satan's 



THE BLOOD 81 

power, and "from this present evil world." 1 
I must, however, now confine myself to the won- 
derful truth of 

SHELTER BY BLOOD. 

In chap. 1 1 we find that God is about to bring one 
more plague upon Pharaoh — the slaying of the first- 
born. Death, as God's judgment, is about to pass 
through the proud monarch's land. Plague after 
plague had already visited it from God, but Phar- 
aoh's heart was hardened. 

Now notice this, that before it is said that God 
hardened his heart, we find that the king himself 
had rejected God, arrogantly saying, "Who is the 
Lord, that I should obey His voice, to let Israel 
go ? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel 
go." 2 In fact, Pharaoh hardened his own heart 
against God before God gave him up to his im- 
piety. And is it not so to-day ? Men go on reject- 
ing the gospel, steeling and hardening their hearts 
against Christ until they go too far; then God steps 
in and hardens the heart. Oh, solemn thought, to 
be under judicial blindness at the hand of God, be- 
cause of terribly wilful and continual rejection of 
the glorious gospel of Christ ! Fearful thing, when 
God shall say, " Let him alone! " 3 

My hearers, do not for a moment gather from 
this that God has elected any to be damned. This 
is not so, for He desires "all men to be saved; " 4 
but we can say, in the words of the poet — 

" There is a time — we know not when, 
A point — we know not where, 

1 Gal. 1:4. 2 Exod. 5:2. 3 Hosea 4:17. 4 1 Tim. 2 : 4. 



82 THE BLOOD 

That marks the destiny of men 
To glory or despair. 

There is a line, by us unseen, 

That crosses every path, 
That marks the boundary between 

God's mercy and God's wrath." 

Sinners, trifle not then, with either God's mercy or 
God's wrath. 

Now I want you to see this point, that if God in- 
tervenes in Egypt in judgment, it must fall on Is- 
raelite and Egyptian alike, unless God Himself 
should "put a difference." 1 They were alike as to 
their sinful state before God. In the New Testa- 
ment language we can say, "There is no differ- 
ence." Both were sinners, and had come short of 
the glory of God. 2 But God was going to put a 
difference; it consisted in the sprinkled blood. 

Now remember, that if God saves a man, He 
must do it in a righteous way; He cannot surrender 
His character, His holiness, His truth, in order to 
bless a sinner. These must be vindicated ere a sin- 
ner can be saved. Yet, mark you, He delights in 
blessing men, but He must do it consistently with 
His own Being. This is why we have the blood 
brought in. It speaks of "the precious blood of 
Christ." 3 The paschal lamb typifies "the Lamb of 
God." The precious gospel I have to preach to you 
is that God's own love has provided the Lamb, and 
that God in holiness has judged the Lamb that His 
love furnished ; that the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ is the fullest proof of this; and that 

1 Exod. 11:7. 2 Kom. 3 : 22. 3 1 Pet. 1 : 19. 



THE BLOOD 83 

JESUS SEATED AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND 

is the expression of God's satisfaction with the 
atoning work of the Cross — of His being glorified 
by it in all that He is. Yes, the Victim of Calvary- 
has so completely glorified God, that He has been 
set upon the Throne the glory-gates have been 
flung wide open by God Himself, who now can 
righteously come forth to welcome, shelter and 
bless the sinner that comes to Him on the ground 
of the death of Jesus. 

In our chapter you find specific instruction as to 
the lamb and its slaying. Notice — if "the house- 
hold be too little for the lamb." * Mark, it does not 
say too big. No, no ! And, thank God, there is no 
family circle on earth too large for God's grace to 
reach and for Christ's blood to shelter. 
I repeat it — 

NO HOUSEHOLD TOO LARGE. 

Oh, Christian man, head of a house, ponder this in 
thy soul: "Thou and thy house ! " 2 was the word to 
the sinner of Philippi, and it is a sweet word for 
thee. Rest not until thou knowest that each mem- 
ber of thy family circle is safe beneath the shelter 
of the blood. 

Let us pass in our thoughts into Egypt on that 
passover night. Here is the dwelling of an Israel- 
ite; one named Reuben occupies it with his family. 
We introduce ourselves to them ; we notice the 
firstborn, a bright-eyed youth, the pride of his 
father and the darling of his mother. " Reuben," 
we say, "you don't love that boy." "Ah, don't I ? 
^xod. 12: 4. 2 Actsl6: 31. 



84 THE BLOOD 

Come hither, my son," and the father puts his 
arm around him, and kisses him. But we repeat, 
"Reuben, 'tis false, you love him not; for is not 
this the passover night; and is not your son's life 
in danger? — no blood is sprinkled on your door." 
The boy exclaims, "Father, is this true ? Is my life 
in danger? The father is silent; and addressing 
ourselves to the boy, we say, "Yes, boy; if your 
father truly loves you, he would sprinkle the lintel 
and door-posts with the blood of the paschal lamb, 
and save you from the destroyer this night." 
"Father," the boy cries, "oh, father, do sprinkle 
the blood, and tarry not! " The father, moved by 
the appeal, proceeds at once to apply the blood to 
the lintel and door-posts, 

ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD. 

Now, my hearer, in this picture learn thine own 
disregard for thy soul. Thou lovest it not, for thou 
hast not yet sought the shelter of the blood, and 
thou art exposed to the coming judgment. I plead 
with thee for thy soul. Oh, see to its eternal safety. 
There is no time to be lost. Judgment is at the 
door. Flee, oh flee, to the shelter of the blood! 

Let me use my picture in another way. Just as 
an Israelite father would place his first-born under 
shelter of the blood, so God the Father comes 
to you, saying, "I want to place you beneath the 
shelter of My Son's precious blood." Yes, He 
would fain stoop down to you on that seat, put His 
everlasting arms around you, and delight Himself 
in placing you under the atoning blood of His be- 
loved Son. Will you not let Him do this for you 



THE BLOOD 85 

now — and then thank Him for it ? Oh for a thou- 
sand hearts and a thousand tongues to thank and 
praise Him for saving my soul like that! 

Let us now visit another dwelling. Simeon and 
his family reside in it. We venture the remark 
that it is passover night, but meet with a somewhat 
brusque reply, "Tell me something I don't know." 
Gently we add, 'Tray, don't take offence, but this 
is the passover night! " "Yes, I know that as well 
as you," is his rejoinder. Again we repeat, " But 
this is the passover night! " He appears annoyed; 
but firmly and earnestly, with stress laid upon each 
word, we say once more, " Friend, 

THIS IS THE PASSOVER NIGHT ! " 

Struck by our tone, he begins to think there is 
something in our speech. We continue, "Where is 
your firstborn son ? " The lad is forthcoming, 
when at once we ask; "Why don't you put him un- 
der the shelter of the blood ? " He replies, rather 
in a huff, "I am not going to argue with you." 
"Argue! "we say; " who dreams of arguing ? We 
simply desire the safety of your boy." 

My friends, I fear there is a Simeon in this hall; 
beyond doubt, there are many such in this world. 
We speak to them of their state as sinners, of the 
necessity of conversion, of salvation through Christ, 
of coming judgment, and they say quite pettishly, 
"Tell us something we don't know." Then they 
fly off at a tangent, and accuse us of med- 
dling in what is their business, when, in love to 
them, we have ventured to remark that only the 
precious blood of Christ can avail them. 



86 THE BLOOD 

Let us return to friend Simeon. " Sir," we con- 
tinue, "do not be offended, we do but desire the 
blessing of you and yours — where is your lamb, 
pray?" He replies, "Oh, I have it all right, and 
quite ready when I need it." " But, sir, why don't 
you kill it ? " we enquire. Surlily he answers, 
"Mind your own business." We are almost dis- 
posed to go on our way, but, remembering the pa- 
tience of our Master, we still linger, and once more 
address Simeon thus: "Sir, will the live lamb suf- 
fice to ward off the coming judgment?" He re- 
plies, "No; it must be slain. ' Tis only the blood 
that will avail! " " Then," we continue, "why not 
slay it at once ? There's no time to lose. A few 
more moments and 

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR WILL BE UPON US ! 

Sir, hasten to have your firstborn beyond reach of 
danger. Kill the lamb, and sprinkle the door-posts 
and lintel with its blood " 

Finally, yielding to our appeal, he slays the lamb 
and applies the blood just before the midnight 
hour, and we exclaim, "Thank God, the boy is 
safe!" 

Ah, friends, Simeon is but 

A REPRESENTATIVE OF MANY OTHERS. 

They tell us to "mind our own business," when we 
speak to them of their souls' danger. Is someone 
here to-night saying that ? Friend, my business is 
the King's business, in looking after you. 1 You have 
been so indifferent yourself, so callous about your 

1 Luke 14: 21-23. 



THE BLOOD 87 

eternal destiny, so regardless of the coming' wrath, 
that my Master is concerned about you, and pleads 
with you ; He seeks you ; with loving heart and 
outstretched arms He bids you come to Him. 

Now, as to the live lamb — of what avail could it 
be to Simeon's firstborn when the destroyer passed 
through the land? Of none, clearly, since it was 
the blood over and around the door that the mid- 
night destroyer must behold to pass over. Yet 
thousands of people in Christendom to-day teach 
and believe that it is the holy life of Jesus that will 
save us. But this will not do. The holy, perfect 
life of Jesus here on earth marked Him out indeed 
as the spotless Lamb of God. From the manger to 
Calvary, His perfect life ever ascended up to God 
as a sweet savor, 1 but it did not expiate our guilt. 
If the blessed Saviour had passed from Gethsem- 
ane's garden up into heaven without going to the 
cross, you and I would die in our sins. All His holy 
life, up to the cross, would not avail to put our sins 
away. It is His blood — 

HIS LIFE GIVEN IN ATONEMENT FOR SIN 

that avails before God. Yet people now-a-days are 
fond of talking about their good works as merit- 
ing God's favor ! If Christ's blessed life on earth 
could not give us a title to glory, think you that 
your works and my works, stained with sin as they 
are, can obtain for us a place in heaven ? Ah, the 
less we speak of our works the better. Rather let 
us magnify what the Saviour did in those hours of 
suffering and darkness on the cross. 

x Matt. 3:17. 



88 THE BLOOD 

I have said that Simeon applied the blood to his 
house just before the midnight hour. A little more 
delay, and he would have been too late. 

HOW FATAL IS PROCRASTINATION! 

Sinner, it will steal a march upon you one of these 
days, and that terrible "not yet," which your heart 
has so often said, will prove fatal to your soul. 
Judgment is near; escape is provided; flee for thy 
life! Yon scoffer smiles, and says, "Judgment — 
where is it? Why, 'all things continue as they 
were from the beginning of the creation! ' "* 

You remind me of the inhabitants of a Swiss 
village which lay on the slope of a mountain. For 
some time past there had been warnings that a 
mass of rock was becoming loosened. An able en- 
gineer inspected it, and reported that the village 
was in danger ; the rocky mass might fall any day, 
and overwhelm the inhabitants. Some feared ; 
others laughed, saying, "Why, our forefathers 
dwelt beneath its shadow in perfect safety." A 
few years passed, when, one day the rocky aval- 
anche 

SWEPT THE VILLAGE AWAY 

with thunderous roar — not one soul escaped. O ye 
men, learn a lesson from this! Whilst you scoff at 
the coming judgment, remember that God has 
said, "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then 
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 
upon a woman with child ; and they shall not es- 
cape." 2 

x 2Pet. 3:4. 2 1 Thess. 5; 3. 



THE BLOOD 89 

Now let us visit another Israelite's house. It is 
Benjamin's. On approaching", we notice the blood- 
sprinkled lintel and side-posts, and on entering we 
find him and his family sitting in peace feeding 
upon the slain and roasted lamb. Enquiring as to 
the peace they seem to enjoy on such a night, of 
judgment, and the ground 'of that peace, Benjamin 
willingly enlightens us. Our conversation takes 
the form of question on our part, and answer 
on his: — 

Q. — Do you not fear for your firstborn ? 

A.— Oh, no. 

0.— Why not ? 

A. — He is sheltered by the blood of the lamb. 

Q. — What is there in the blood to screen your 
boy ? 

A. — It is God's provision for his safety. The 
lamb's life has gone for our son's life. 

Q. — Is it true that the slain lamb foreshadows 
the death of the Lamb of God — of His own Son ? 

A. — Yes, and I look forward in faith to it. 

Q. — What does the blood do? 

A. — It satisfies God, and shelters our firstborn. 

Q. — Is that the sole ground of the boy's safety ? 

A. — Yes; it is the blood — the blood alone. 

Q. — But have you valued it sufficiently ? 

A. — We value it indeed, but it is God who esti- 
mates its full value; as He said: "When I see the 
blood I will pass over you." 

Q. — What then have you done ? 

A. — We simply appropriate it in faith. Those 
who trust in it, sprinkle it over their door, as God 
commanded. 



90 THE BLOOD 

Q. — Have you any fears as to your boy's safety ? 

A. — No, none. 

Q. — Indeed; on what do you base this assurance? 

A. — On what God has said, "I will pass over 
you." 

Q. — Is it not rather presumptuous on your part 
to speak so confidently ? 

A. — It indeed would be if God had not pledged 
His word for it. 

Q. — Then are we to understand that the blood of 
the lamb makes him safe, and the word of Jeho- 
vah makes you sure ? 

A. — Precisely so. 

Q. — As you are at such rest about it all, will you 
join with us in singing ? — 

"Precious, precious blood of Jesus ! 
Shed on Calvary — 
Shed for rebels, shed for sinners, 
Shed for me. 

"Though my sins be red like crimson, 
Deep in scarlet glow, 
Jesus' precious blood hath made them 
White as snow." 

He and his family join in the hymn, and we 
afterwards pass on, delighted with our interview. 

Now, my friends, through our imagined conver- 
sation with this Israelite, we gather something for 
your soul's blessing to-night. The death of Jesus 
on yon cross has satisfied every claim of God's 
righteousness as to our guilt, and secures the be- 
liever's favor before the Throne. O precious blood ! 



THE BLOOD 91 

It absolutely silences Satan's accusations, and per- 
fectly shelters the believer. 

I know there are many people who believe they 
can be safe to-day and lost to-morrow. What mis- 
erable uncertainty — not knowing whether any day 
they may cease to be sheltered by the blood ! But 
this is not the gospel of God; for our Saviour has 
said of His sheep, " They shall never perish, 
neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My 
Father, which gave them Me is greater than all, 
and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand." 1 

Oh for a heart and tongue to testify worthily as to 
the precious blood of Christ! It is ever before God, 
who alone can appreciate the full value of the obe- 
dience and sacrifice of His beloved Son. Because 
of Him, God's lovely attitude towards the sinner is, 
so to speak, of an outstretched hand over the blood- 
sprinkled mercy-seat ; and appealing to the sin- 
ner, He says, "Come, take My hand, and be recon- 
ciled to Me." 

I remember a lady who attended some gospel 
meetings we were holding in a village. I men- 
tioned how God's hand was outstretched toward 
the sinner over the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, and 
that any one could take it that night and be recon- 
ciled to Him. The next day, as I was visiting in 
the village, this woman came in, and with tears 
falling down her face, she began, " I saw you com- 
ing up the road, and I have come to tell you that 
I took His hand last night! " "But have you not 
been religious all your life ? " I asked. She replied, 
^ohn 10: 28,29. 



92 THE BLOOD 

4 'Ah, but it was religion, not Christ !" Unsaved 
hearer, will you not take God's hand to-night, and 
be reconciled to Him ? l 

Again, God has found such value in the blood of 
Christ that He has crowned Him with glory and 
honor; and He is going to bring in the same heav- 
enly glory all His blood-bought ones, as compan- 
ions of Jesus for ever ! 2 Is it not gloriously grand! 
By virtue of the Saviour's work the penitent thief 
went to paradise that day, as the Lord said unto 
him, "Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou 
be with Me in paradise." 3 

Now what is it that gives us assurance of safety 
by the blood ? It is the written word of God. Not 
our feelings, but the word of God. He has said, 
"When I see the blood I will pass over you." Take 
Him at His word, ye doubters. Believe what He 
says, because He says it — 

BELIEVE IT, AND DOUBT NO MORE. 

If you have been living in "Doubting Castle," 
leave it at once, and honor God by believing what 
He has said. God's word will stand when yon 
heavens shall be dissolved and this earth is burnt 
up, for "the word of the Lord endure th for ever." 4 
A traveler, anxious to know if the train would 
stop at a certain station, asked information from a 
fellow- passenger. He replied, "I think it does." 
Not quite satisfied, he appealed to another, who 
answered, "It used to do, but I am not quite cer- 
tain about it now." At last the conductor appears, 
and to the same inquiry he replies decisively, " Yes, 

l 2 Cor. 5: 20. 2 Heb. 2:9,10. 3 Luke 23: 43. *1 Pet. 1:25. 



THE BLOOD 93 

sir/' and the traveler's mind at once is at rest. Now 
get your assurance from the right authority. Whose 
shall it be ? Not what your preacher or what any 
man says, but what the living God has said. You 
may have it 

ON DIVINE AUTHORITY. 

If, as a poor, guilty sinner, you believe from your 
heart on the Lord Jesus, then God says, "Thou 
shalt be saved." Let Benjamin's faith be yours. 
Do not say you cannot be sure until you are in the 
world to come. That would be to walk by sight. 
Walk now by faith. Believe God. 

All in Egypt who were beneath the sprinkled 
blood that night were safe. All who were un- 
sheltered by that blood were to be smitten with 
God's judgment. From the palace of Pharaoh to 
the prisoner in the dungeon, the firstborn in each 
abode not blood-sprinkled, was slain, and there was 
"a great cry in Egypt. " Y What I might call the 
"upper ten" the "middle class " and the "submerged 
tenth " of society are here represented. Wherever 
blood was absent from the lintel and door-posts, 
there the Destroyer entered. 

Unsaved men and women, take warning from 
this! For everyone, it must be either the blood of 
the Lamb or the wrath of the Lamb. Remember, 
too, that judgment is eternal upon all who pass 
into eternity without Christ. 

That every unsaved one here may come to the 
Saviour now is my prayer. Amen. 

2 Exod. 12: 29,30. 



THE FATHERS HEART 



"And He said, A certain man had two sons : and the younger of 
them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that 
falleth to me. And he divided nnto them his living. 

"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, 
and took his journey into a far country ? and there wasted his sub- 
stance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there 
arose a mighty famine in that land ; and he began to be in want. 
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and 
he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have 
filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man 
gave unto him. 

"And when he came to himself he said, How many hired ser- 
vants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish 
with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto 
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and 
am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy 
hired servants. 

"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a 
great way off his father saw him , and had compassion , and ran 
and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, 
Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no 
more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his 
servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him ; and put a 
ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted 
calf and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son 
was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found. And they 
began to be merry. 

"Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew 
nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called 
one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he 
said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed 
the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And 
he was angry and would not go in. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 95 

"Then came his father out and entreated him. But he answer- 
ing said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee; 
neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment ; and yet 
thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my 
friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath de- 
voured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the 
fatted calf. 

"And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that 
I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be 
glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was 
lost, and is found " (Luke 15 : 11-32). 

THE closing sentence of the previous chapter 
is, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 
I trust that every person present has got ears that 
will hearken to the voice of the Lord. 

A crowd had gathered round the Saviour when 
He spake these words; it was composed of publi- 
cans and sinners — motley enough, as we would say 
— tax-gatherers (despised and hated by both Jews 
and Romans) and others designated as sinners. On 
the outskirts we see the proud and religious Phari- 
sees and scribes — men of sanctimonious appear- 
ance, temple-worshipers, great observers of rites, 
and regular synagogue-goers; men who made long 
prayers for appearance sake, well versed in the 
letter of the Scripture, but ignorant of its spirit, 
"like whited sepulchres, that appear beautiful out- 
wardly but within full of dead bones, and of all 
uncleanness." 1 They could not for a moment mix 
with such an audience as came to hear the Lord's 
preaching ; yet, either out of curiosity, or with a 
view to criticize the Preacher, or to entangle Him 
in His speech, they cannot be absent. 
2 Matt. 23: 27. 



96 THE FATHER'S HEART 

Are any such now here ? How unfortunate, is it 
not, that your seat is next to that of some poor 
profligate ! An old-fashioned high-walled church 
pew would suit you better. But I sincerely hope 
that, ere this meeting closes, you may both be con- 
verted to God, and confess it to one another. 

These Pharisees and scribes of proud counte- 
nance despisingly say : "This man receive th sin- 
ners, and eateth with them." 1 They spoke it with 

THE SARCASM OF HATRED, 

but to the heart and ears of those who know the 
grace of God revealed in Jesus, these words are ex- 
quisitely sweet and lovely: "This man receive th 
sinners !" Oh, welcome words! Let me borrow 
them even from Pharisees; and, from Christian and 
loving lips, let their sweet evangel-music ring in 
your hearts, He "receiveth sinners ! " Yes, He 
would throw His everlasting arms around them, 
and carry them to the glory -home, trophies of His 
grace, fruit of His redemption victory, and con- 
quests of His mighty love. Rich or poor, sinners 
ye are all; and such the blessed Saviour receiveth, 
and with such He eateth — 

GRACIOUS RECEPTION ! SACRED COMMUNION ! 

The Pharisees " murmured. " The natural man 
dislikes free, unmerited grace. The reason is, that 
grace makes everything of God, and nothing of 
man; therefore the natural man hates it. But will 
men's murmurings stay the activities of God's 
grace ? No ! I find in this chapter that the more 
1 Luke 15: 2. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 97 

men murmured, the more God's grace shone forth; 
and the more grace displayed itself, the more mur- 
murings were heard. 

Men murmur, and we are at once told of the 
Shepherd seeking and finding the lost sheep. They 
still murmur, and immediately the Lord pictures 
the woman seeking and finding the lost coin. Still 
they cavil, and then Jesus portrays for us the father 
and the prodigal. Aye, if there be cavillers and 
murmurers here to-night, it will not prevent the 
blessed God from saving the poor and needy soul 
sitting by their side. God will accomplish His 
purposes, spite of the murmurings of men ; and 
sinners shall be saved, until the Church is com- 
plete. Then, at the call of the Lord, she shall pass 
into yon bright glory-land ! 

The verses I have read contain what has been 
called the parable of " The Prodigal Son." This 
title has for some time past been to my mind rather 
a misnomer — I mean, it is a poor name to give it. 
Is not a more appropriate one — 

THE PARABLE OF THE FATHER'S HEART ? 

Now, who is the " elder" son ? 'Tis the respect- 
able and religious citizen who thinks he is good 
enough for God, and that he can enter heaven in 
virtue of his own merits. 'Tis the man who brings 
self in, and leaves Christ out — truly a Pharisee to 
the backbone. Who is the "younger" son? 'Tis 
that worldling before me, who has never made any 
profession, and who tries to make himself happy in 
this world, without God. 

Now, what think you is the difference in the 



98 THE FATHEK'S HEAET 

sight of God between the respectable church-go- 
ing Pharisee, and the pleasure-seeking, sin-loving 
worldling? "There is no difference, for all have 
sinned and come short of the glory of God,"i saith 
the Scripture. One is, morally, 

AS FAR FROM GOD AS THE OTHER. 

As far as the heights of God's Throne is from the 
earth and hell beneath, so is the distance between 
God and the unsaved — whether he be an empty 
professor or irreligious. Solemn truth this, my 
hearers. But, thank God, the same saving grace 
that presents itself to the one, shines forth for the 
other. For both "elder" and "younger" son grace 
flows like a river. 

Now what are you "younger" sons doing at this 
moment ? Endeavoring to find your joy and hap- 
piness in this world, whilst away from God. You 
have your fun and frolic, your music and dancing, 
your races and cards, your theatres and novels; and 
you say, All is well. Stay, my hearers, if there 
were nothing beyond this life, it might perhaps be 
well. Aye, //nothing beyond, then I might be dis- 
posed to adjourn this gospel meeting sine die. You 
might have this hall as a ball-room, call in a string- 
band, and dance to the merry music. 

Yes, IF this life were all ; but it is NOT all. 
Eternity stands out before our souls in its infinite 
greatness and its solemn import. 

"Eternity! where? Eternity! where? 
With Christ in the glory, or 
With the lost in despair ? 

Eternity! where? Eternity! where ?" 

^om. 3: 22,23. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 99 

What folly, then, it is to close one's eyes to the 
eternal issues that God has set before us, and to 
open them only to present things of time ! Men 
live for the present, and despise the future. The 
latter they sacrifice for the former. 

What is time ? Aboard an ocean steamer we take 
a thimble, attach a thread to it, drop it over the 
vessel's side and bring up a thimble-full of salt 
water taken out of the ocean. This may represent 
time, taken out of the ocean of eternity. Men, you 
are living in the thimble, 

WITH THE OCEAN BEFORE YOU. 

When you are launched upon that, will it be to be 
carried by power divine into the glory of God, or to 
be swept by righteous judgment into everlasting 
woe ? — Which ? How short a man's life is ! How 
quickly the years pass by after the age of forty ! 
How rapidly they flee past! And then to face God's 
"Forever! " Oh, to have Christ now — and then ! 

Like the young man in the parable, turning his 
back on his father, so you, unsaved one, have got 
your back toward God. You may not have de- 
scended to the depths of degradation which he 
reached; but your face is like his — hell-ward, not 
God-ward. And mark this, he had turned his back 
to his father as really when he crossed the thres- 
hold of his home on his downward course as when 
living with harlots in the far country. And so it is 
with you, whether your life is openly gross, or less 
sinful; as to both your position and condition, you 
are away from God. With your back toward Him, 
you are marching right down the broad road which 



100 THE FATHER'S HEAET 

leadeth to destruction. 1 Hence the need of conver- 
sion. Mark this, the converted man's face is toward 
God, and he is marching to glory. 

" Spent all;" "A mighty famine;" " Began to 
be in want;" "No man gave unto him." The 
young fellow had spent all his money, and being in 
want, has sought help from the world, which re- 
fuses to assist him. How like the world! Its prin- 
ciple is, nothing for nothing. What a contrast to 
God's grace, which gives 



The world will soon cast a man off when he no 
longer can contribute to its happiness and pleas- 
ures. It quickly turns its back on the fellow who 
is no longer of use to it. Its principle is that, for 
such, kicks are better than kisses. But many a 
man, lying on the world's dustbin, has been picked 
up by the grace of God. Dustbin sinners saved by 
mighty grace ! 

A man who had been converted said, "I have 
made a wonderful discovery. I have found out 
that God, instead of asking from a sinner, is a 
giving God to a sinner." This, truly, is the gospel 
— God gives and the sinner receives. Come, then, 
and be a recipient of God's bountiful grace. 

But I notice this, that beginning to be in want did 
not turn the boy homeward. He had to go deeper 
down, until he cries, 

"I PERISH WITH HUNGER." 

We have known men of the world, and women of 
^latt. 7: 13. 2 1 Cor. 3: 21-23. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 101 

fashion, who have become thoroughly sick of pleas- 
ure and gaiety. They had felt a want which the 
world failed to supply. What did they do ? They 
turned to religion, became good church-goers, yet 
did not turn to God. Turning religious is not turn- 
ing to God. They did not discover they were per- 
ishing. It has been said that man's extremity is 
God's opportunity. This is perfectly true. It is 
there that God meets him. When the prodigal 
reached that point, he said, " I will arise." When 
his mind reverted to his father's goodness — for even 
the servants at home had bread enough and to 
spare — he said, 



He had a right sense of his own need, and though 
not yet knowing the depths of his father's love, he 
thought of his father's goodness. 

There was a young fellow, James , brought 

tip by affluent parents in ease and comfort, who had 
early learned to love the pleasures of sin. Enticed 
by the world, he sank deeper into vice, and at last 
determined to leave home and have his fling in the 
world. He joined a company of minstrels, styled 
the "Ethiopian Serenaders." With blackened faces 
and hands, and in grotesque dress, they made a 
tour through the country. One day, at a coast 
town, they took their stand before a book-store, in 
the front of which some Bibles were placed for sale. 
After they had sung several comic songs, James 
stepped into the store, with his tambourine as a 
collection box. The tradesman took down a Bible 
and said to him, " See here, I will give you a quar- 



102 THE FATHER'S HEART 

ter and this book if you will read a portion of it 
outside among your mates in the hearing of the 
bystanders. " " Here's 

A QUARTER FOR AN EASY JOB," 

he said to his party; "I'm going to give a public 
reading." 

Opening at Luke 15, and pointing to verse 11, 
the tradesman requested him to begin. "Now, 
Jim, speak up," said one of the troupe, "and earn 
your quarter like a man." 

James began, and read verses 11, 12, 13, when a 
comrade ejaculated, "That's you, Jim; it's just 
what you told us about yourself and your father." 
Controlling his feelings, he read on: "And when 
he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in 
that land, and he began to be in want." 

"Why, that's you again, Jim," said the voice. Jim 
read verses 15 and 16. "That's like us all," said 
the voice again; "we're all stony broke. Go on; 
let's hear what came of it." 

James, scarcely able to restrain his emotion, with 
trembling accents, continued: "And when he came 
to himself, he said, How many hired servants of 
my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I 
perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my 
father." . . . 

He could read no more; he was quite overcome; 
the sinful past rose up before him, his parents, the 
comforts of home, the servants there, and then his 
present condition, his companions, his habits — all 
came rushing into his mind ; and the prodigal's re- 
solve became also his own. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 103 

Shortly after, he went, and what a welcome he got 
from a father's heart, filled with joy as that boy 
confessed, "I have sinned! " And, blessed be God, 
it did not stop there, for Jim rested not until he 
knew that God, too, found His joy in receiving and 
forgiving him. 

IS THERE A "jIM" HERE TO-NIGHT? 

Let him arise and go to the Father, with the con- 
trite sinner's confession, "I have sinned! " This is 
conversion. See my hand: its back is toward the 
wall. Now I turn it, and the palm faces the wall; 
that is what conversion means for the soul. 

Now, young man, turn you to the God of all grace, 
who waits to be gracious unto you. 

Observe the father's attitude: "When he was yet 
a great way off his father saw him, and had com- 
passion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed 
him." 

Compassion ! Oh, what wonderful compassion is 
God's! He runs to meet the returning wanderer. 
He hastens to throw His everlasting arms around 
him, and to kiss him. Where, think you, was the 
meeting-place ? I have seen a picture, in which 
the artist has portrayed a stately home, with gar- 
dens and terraces and, at the bottom of the latter, 
an old man with a youth upon his neck; it is styled, 
" The Prodigal's Return." But this is not like Luke 
15. The young man was yet "a great way off" 
when his father met him. The words, "a great way 
off," correspond to "the far country" of verse 13. 
They met in the scene of his misery and degrada- 
tion. This is where God meets the sinner — in this 



104 THE FATHER'S HEART 

world — the very place where the sinner has dis- 
honored God and lived in sin; it is here that God 
in His love meets and blesses him. How this cuts 
under the ground of those who assert that you can- 
not know you are saved until you have passed out 
of this world. 'Twas in the far country, the figure 
of this world, that the father met his son. 

What, think you, brought the boy to the father ? 
It was his need. What brought the father to the 
boy ? It was the father's love. So it is with God 
and the sinner. Need brings the sinner to Him ; 
but love takes Him to the sinner. Love outstrips 
need, so that they do not meet even half-way. Oh, 
no; love runs, whilst need, falters. Oh, the blessed 
activity of grace — it is love working in the midst 
of sin. 

Truly, divine grace is 

LOVE IN ACTION. 

Love, too, does not bless the sinner merely accord- 
ing to his need, but according to its own delight in 
blessing. In a word, the blessing is not measured 
by the need, but by the love that confers it. 

"He fell on his neck and kissed him." What 
should we have said to this young man, had we 
been present? Probably we should have reproached 
and severely upbraided him. But what did the father 
do ? "He fell on his neck and kissed him." Lovely 
reception ! I used to sing a hymn, "I'd like to 
be an angel bright," but for some time past have 
omitted it from my songs. Why ? Well, ask the 
angels if they have ever been kissed like that ? My 
friends, this wonderful gospel, coming down from 



THE FATHER'S HEART 105 

the glory to you, is not preached to angels. We 
read, "Which things the angels desire to look 
into." ' I would not, then, change places with an- 
gels, for I have had God's kiss The word literally 
is, " Covered him with kisses." It was a garland 
of kisses. Oh, think of God's 

KISSES OF RECONCILIATION. 

Sinners, you need reconciling to God! He needs 
not to be reconciled to you. He never was your 
enemy, but you have been His foe. Sinner, it is 
yourself who needs to be reconciled. How blessed 
to be ' ' reconciled to God by the death of His Son ! " 2 
Yea, forgiven by God and set before Him in favor, 
— in perfect peace of conscience and rest of soul. 
Truly, 'tis blessed! And, remember, the ground of 
it all is the atoning death of Jesus. 

The returning prodigal begins his confession 
with "I have sinned!" Mark this, he does not 
utter all he meant to say when he set out. He 
omits, "Make me as one of thy hired servants." 
Why ? Ah, those sweet, sacred kisses had so 
spoken to his soul of the father's heart, that he now 
felt his father would never be satisfied with giving 
him a hired servant's place. Before he was re- 
ceived, he had, like many others, doubted his wel- 
come, and questioned whether he would meet with 
a gracious reception. He had thought of serving ; 
whereas the father was now about to bring him 
into the home as a son. This is God's way. Before 
calling us into His service, He wants us to realize 
that He gives us the place of sons. 

'IPet. 1: 12. 2 Rom. 5:10. 



106 THE FATHER'S HEART 

SONSHIP BEFORE SERVICE 

is a divine principle. I have heard people talk 
about getting into heaven by a back door; but there 
are no back doors to heaven. You will go in by the 
front door, or not at all. I assure you of this, that 
on account of the glorious redemption work of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, there is only the glory of God 
for the believer — it is our appointed place by God 
Himself. 

" The father said, Bring forth the best robe, and 
put it on him. ,, What kind of a robe have you got 
on to-night ? Is it the best robe of God's provid- 
ing, or some threadbare garment of your own man- 
ufacture? Are you clad with righteousness divine, 
or with the filthy rags of your own righteousness ? x 
The former will fit you for the glory, whilst the 
latter will be of no avail. 

In my old lawyer days I visited an ancient manor 
house, where the owner had recently died. I had 
to search through various rooms for title deeds and 
other valuables. Coming to a room, I found it 
locked. The middle-aged housekeeper informed 
me that it had been locked for over twenty years, 
ever since her late mistress' sister died in it, and 
had been left exactly in the state it was at her 
death. Not finding a key, we were compelled to 
force open the door. I entered. All was dark. 
Passing to a faintly-discerned window, my hand 
touched the shade ; it fell into dust, and, for the 
first time for nigh a quarter of a century, the light 
of day entered that chamber. What a sight was 
presented ! Dust — such dust ! lay on the floor and 
J Isa. 64: 6. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 107 

tables. Everything had a strange and sad appear- 
ance — the light told the tale. 

Now your robe of self-righteousness is like that 
window-shade. When you stand before the Judg- 
ment Throne, the garment of your supposed fitness 
will fall into dust, and the glory-light, shining upon 
you, will discover, to your utter confusion, your 
nakedness as a wretched sinner before God. Yet 
the best robe was provided in the gospel. And it 
would fit every sinner here — whether it be a low- 
down sinner or of the "upper ten." 

Let me repeat, it is God's own providing. No 
human hand has woven it; it is wholly divine •; is a 
gift from God; it is "through the redemption that 
is in Christ Jesus." 1 and it fits one for the glory in 
which Christ has entered. 

THINK OF THAT, AS OUR HOME ! 

We shall be companions of Christ, for ever in the 
same glory which He, as the risen, glorified Man, 
now occupies. His atoning death is the righteous 
ground for God to do this. Is it not wonderful ? 

"Put a ring on his hand." What does the ring 
signify ? It is the pledge of love. Yes, the pledge 
of the Father's love ; as a ring which has no begin- 
ning or ending, so is the Father's love. He says, 
"I have loved thee with an everlasting love. " 2 As 
water always ascends to its own level, so with the 
love of God ; it springs from His own bosom, and 
flowing down into this dark world, it embraces the 
repentant sinner, to carry him right up into the 
glory with Himself — 

^om. 3: 24. 2 Jer. 31: 3. 



108 THE FATHERS HEART 

11 Oh, wonderful love ! 
Mighty, fathomless, full and free. 
Oh, wonderful love ! " 

"Put shoes on his feet." These were a sign of 
sonship ; they meant going in the home as a son. 
Think of it, ye Christians ! Ye are sons of God; 
ye are also His children ! The former is your po- 
sition of dignity before Him, 1 the latter, the family 
relationship to Him in which you are placed. 2 I 
think, too, that the shoes are fitted to tread the 
narrow path to glory, as well as the golden street. 

Now let me rehearse the blessings of this won- 
derful verse. Robed with divine righteousness; 
ringed with divine love; sandalled with divine 
shoes. What a contrast to the demands of the law! 

The LAW said: 

Produce righteousness for God — Micah 6 : 8. 
Love Him with all your heart — Mark 12 : 30. 
Take off your shoes in His presence — Ex. 3 : 5. 

GRACE declares: 

Righteousness as a gift from God — Rom. 5:17. 
God loving with all His heart — John 3:16. 
The shoes put on — Luke 15 : 22. 

I like to think of Christianity as 

THE HEART OF GOD TOLD OUT. 

Now I want you to see that all these blessings 
were freely bestowed by grace upon the returning 
wanderer before he entered the house. It is on 
earth that God receives the repenting sinner and 

*Gal. 4: 6. 2 Gal. 3: 26. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 109 

fits him for the home of glory in fashion such as we 
have seen. 

Then we find that the son is taken inside the 
home. We Christians will fully understand what 
this is when we are actually in heaven in bodies 
like unto the Lord's; 1 but, thank God, it is per- 
fectly true of us now that we have been brought to 
God — right into His presence, to be at home there 
even now. See Heb. 10: 19 and Eph. 2, 13, 19. 

Fellow-believer, are you in your soul at home 
with God now ? Have you, in faith, received the 
precious truth that, through the work of the Cross, 
you are brought to God ? Can you joyfully say, 
"His presence is my home ? " Ask that school-boy 
where his home is. He replies: "Not in this school, 
but some distance out from here." Enquire of him 
what sort of home it is, and he will tell you about 
it; of its surroundings, its gardens, its orchards, 
its meadows. Then ask: "And why do you call it 
home, boy? " He would reply, "Because my fa- 
ther and mother live there." Ah, that is it ; not 
on account of its gardens or the picturesque country, 
but because a father's heart and a mother's affec- 
tion are there. Christians, why do we call heaven 
our home ? It is because Jesus and the Father are 
there. To us it is the glory-home — the dwelling of 
the Father, of the Son, and the Spirit, and where we 
shall be in the circle of God's family through His 
eternal day. 

Then we read of " the fatted calf " being slain, 
and the father saying, "Let us eat and be merry; " 
and "they began to be merry." All this speaks of 
x Phil. 3; 21. 



110 THE FATHER'S HEART 

the sweet and holy joys of heaven over one sinner 
that repenteth. 

IT IS THE JOY OF GOD HIMSELF 

over the returning sinner ; all heaven echoes it, 
and the believer's heart also sings as he contem- 
plates God's own delight in blessing. 

Have you, Christian, yet discovered that God has 
found His own deep joy in saving your soul ? We 
often speak of the joy we had the day we were con- 
verted, and truly it was joy; but I love to think of 
the joy in God's heart on a sinner's return, and of 
the joy He has now in every one of His own, whom 
He has clothed with the beauty of His own beloved 
Son. 

" They began to be merry." The beginning is 
here. The fulness is there, and knows no ending. 
Oh, ineffable delight of God Himself in blessing us 
"through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." * 
How many of you can join with me in praising 
Him for this wondrous grace ? This is the choir I 
believe in, who can chant the praises of the Lamb 
that was slain; its choristers are sinners saved by 
grace, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and sur- 
pliced in His moral beauty, worth, and perfection. 
Do you ask how you can join it ? Come as you are 
to the Father, through the Son. Charlotte Elliott 
expressed it for us in these words: 

11 Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come! 

^om. 3: 24. 



THE FATHER'S HEART 111 

11 Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; 
Because Thy promise I believe, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! " 

and God will receive and welcome you. Then you y 
too, shall " begin to be merry." 

Let me speak, as I close, upon another " begin- 
ning." If we could address the lost souls to-night, 
and enquire as to their employ, would they not an- 
swer, " We are beginning our weeping ? " — for it is 
eternal sorrow there. Oh, my hearers, it must be 
one or the other. Yes, 'twill be either everlasting 
song or everlasting sorrow. Which, for you ? 

And what of the "elder son?" He refused 
grace; he declined to go into the feast when the 
father entreated him to do so. Thus it is with the 
self-righteous, who prefer law to grace. Like the 
elder son, they speak of keeping "the command- 
ments," and at the same time slight the sweet 
grace of God, by which they might be saved. 

In Luke 16 we find the rich man in torment. It 
almost seems as if he were the veritable elder son, 
who refused the father's entreaties. Oh, ye self- 
righteous, self-satisfied ones, beware lest }^e, too, 
find yourselves shut out from the glory-home, whilst 
publicans and sinners have entered in. 



JUSTIFICATION 



"How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be 
clean that is born of a woman ? Behold even to the moon, and it 
shineth not ; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. How much 
less man, that is a worm? and the son of man which is a worm " 
(Job 25 : 4-6). 

" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life" (John 3 : 16). 

"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall 
be saved from wrath through Him " (Rom. 5 : 9). 

THE question that Bildad the Shuhite asked 
has often been asked since his day. There 
may be some here that "are pure in their own 
eyes," answering to the generation described in 
Proverbs: "There is a generation that are pure in 
their own eyes." They forget, however, that God 
has added, "is not washed from their filthiness." * 
They are certainly not pure in the sight of the 
living God. Of course, if we have to measure our- 
selves by one another, you may stand a better 
chance than I ; but God's standard is not compar- 
ing a sinful man with other sinful men, but His 
own glory. Our Lord Himself has said, " Except 
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness 
of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." 2 

iProv. 13: 12. 2 Matt. 5:20. 



JUSTIFICATION 113 

There are people who talk about their doings, as 
if that could fit them for God's glory. There are 
others who tell us that every man has a germ of 
good in him, which only needs to be developed to 
fit him for the hereafter. To all such, we answer 
with the Lord's words to Nicodemus, "Except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
God." 1 No human effort will avail before God to 
justify a sinner in His sight. It is, no doubt, pos- 
sible to turn drunkards and profligates into respect- 
able members of society, but when it comes to the 
question of fitness for God's presence, 

CHRIST ALONE AVAILS. 

A lady once said she desired to get peace with 
God, but could not; that she attended evangelistic 
meetings, but all to no purpose. The question was 
asked her, "Madam, have you ever said, I abhor 
myself?" She replied, " No, I am not as bad as 
that." On being told that she was nothing but a 
sinful creature in God's sight, she went off, like 
Naaman, in a rage. 2 Loaded with such good thoughts 
of herself, how could she get the relief she pro- 
fessed to want? What God does is to bring the 
sinner to the confession of his true state before 
Him; and then to answer the needs of conscience 
by proclaiming the peace that Christ has made by 
the Cross. 3 This answer of God is indeed peace. 

11 1 hear the words of love, 
I gaze upon the blood, 
I see the mighty Sacrifice, 
And I have peace with God." 

1 John 3:3. 2 2 Kings 5 ; 12. 3 Col. 1 : 20. 



114 JUSTIFICATION 

One man says he quarrels not with his neighbor. 
Well, this is peace with his neighbor; others are 
on good terms with themselves. This is peace with 
self — and I pray God to disturb this peace ; others 
have been justified by God on the principle of faith, 
and they have the real peace. 

THIS IS PEACE WITH GOD. 1 

Have you got it ? 

I want to prove from Scripture the utter ruin of 
man — his state of guilt before God — and to this 
end to examine a few Old and New Testament 
witnesses upon the point. We will obtain their 
truthful evidence, which, I am sure, will be over- 
whelmingly conclusive. Let us call Job up for ex- 
amination. We ask him — 

Q. — You are Job, of the land of Uz ? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — Were you an upright man ? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — Is it true that you " delivered the poor that 
cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to 
help him;" also that "you caused the widow's 
heart to sing for joy; " also, that "you were eyes 
to the blind, and feet to the lame, and a father to 
the poor ? " 2 

A. — Yes, all these things were true of me. 

Q. — Did you one day realize the presence of the 
living God ? 

A. — Yes, I found myself in His presence, and I 
said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the 
ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore / 

^om. 5: 1. 2 Job 29: 12-16. 



JUSTIFICATION 115 

abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 1 
Q. — Did you also say, " I am vile ? " 2 
A. — Yes, truly; in that Presence I am vile. 
Let us make a careful note of this last bit of 
evidence: '« IAM vile !" 

Now let us enquire of Isaiah the prophet: 
g. — Isaiah, is it true that "in the year that King 
Uzziah died" you saw "the Lord sitting upon a 
throne, high and lifted up," and that you heard the 
seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of 
hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory ? " 3 
A. — Yes, it is positively true. 
Q. — What effect had this vision upon you ? 
A. — I felt my own unfitness for the Divine pres- 
ence, and I exclaimed, "Woe is me, for I am un- 
done!" 4 

Let us put down this last statement, 

" I AM UNDONE ! " 

Call Jeremiah next : 

Q. — Jeremiah, weeping prophet of Israel, is it 
true that when you meditated upon the terrible 
backslidings of Israel, and the nation's sin against 
Jehovah, you identified yourself therewith, and 
said, "I am black?" 5 

A. — Yes, 'tis true; and with brokenness of spirit 

1 said > "i am black!" 

Now for New Testament evidence. Let us call 
Peter, the great apostle of the circumcision, and 
Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles: 

1 Job42:6. 2 Job 40: 4. 3 Isa. 8: 1-3. 
4 Isa. 6:5. 5 Jer. 8: 21. 



116 JUSTIFICATION 

Q. — Peter, at the miraculous draft of fish from 
the lake, did you fall down at Jesus' knees, and 
say, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O 
Lord ? " l 

A. — Yes, I did, for I felt my own unfitness for 
the holy company of the Son of God — 

I AM SINFUL ! 

Q. — But you, Paul, was not your character ac- 
cording to the Jews' religion blameless ? 2 And after 
Jesus in glory appeared to you, did you say that 
you were chief of sinners ? 

A. — Yes, by the Holy Spirit I wrote these words: 
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accept- 
ation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners : of whom I am chief." 3 

Listen to these last three words : 

"i AM CHIEF ! " 

Let me recapitulate this chain of confessions : 
Job, . . . c "I am vile!" 



Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, 
Peter, 
Paul, c 



" I am undone! " 
"I am black!" 
"lam sinful!" 
"lam chief!" 



Now let me ask you, O unsaved man, what have 
you to say about yourself ? In view of such incon- 
trovertible evidence as we have produced, do you 
dare say to God that you are not so bad ? or that 
there is some good in you ? or that you are doing 
your best? I trust not; but that, rather, you will 
own to Him that you are nothing but a guilty sinner* 
It is the sure way to God's blessing. 

*Luke 5: 8. 2 Phil. 3: 6. 3 1 Tim. 1: 15. 



JUSTIFICATION 117 

Oh, that repentance may be wrought in your soul 
to-night. God calls you to receive His testimony 
as to your ruined spiritual condition. Own it to 
Him that you are lost and guilty. Justify God in His 
judgment of you, that you are black in His sight — 
yea, black with guilt and dark with sin — utterly 
unfit for His presence. 

Oh, you say, "I'm not a murderer, or a profli- 
gate, or a spendthrift! M lam not accusing you of 
these ; but though you may be the most moral and 
respectable person in the city, yet, if not born 
again, you are but a lost sinner in God's sight. 
"In your sins," is your state before God. Awake, 
then, unsaved moralist; awake, Christless, though 
respectable church-goer — awake and turn to the 
Saviour-God ! 

Let us now consider three points as to justifica- 
tion — 

i. The Source of It. 

2. The Ground of It. 

3. The Character of It. 

(1) The Source of Justification. — A lady once said 
to me that she looked upon the Son of God, her 
Saviour, as a Friend, but that she had stood for 
years in great fear of God the Father. She came 
to the gospel services, and learned — what we all 
need to learn — that God Himself is the source of 
blessing. Look at that river; how wide it is at its 
outflow into the ocean; pass up its banks until you 
reach the hill district whence it comes, and there 
you find, springing out from the mountains, the 
clear, sparkling waters — it is the fountain-head, 



118 JUSTIFICATION 

the source of that noble river. So with the mighty 
river of God's blessing; it springs from the bosom, 
from the heart, of God Himself. " God is Love !" 
We see it in that lovely verse, John 3 : 16 — "For 
God so loved the world, that He gave His only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." Blessed dis- 
covery to make, that God so loved us that He gave 
His Son for us ! John 3 : 16 has been well called 



man, think of God's mighty love for such a 
sinner as yourself ! Methinks you saw in those 
witnesses, who have just given us their evidence, a 
true picture of your own dark state ; but now I 
want your to see that God's own heart was set 
upon us, sinners. He has told out His love by giv- 
ing His only begotten Son for our redemption. 
What wonderful news it is ! Do you believe it ? 

1 have read of a young woman, the only child of 
her widowed mother, who got the strange notion 
into her head that her mother had no love for her. 
It was a sad delusion, for the mother loved her 
child as only a mother can. At last, the mania so 
possessed the girl, that she would no longer live at 
home; so she left, and took apartments in another 
house in the town. Some months afterwards, the 
mother was passing up the street, when she heard 
the cry of " Fire! " She saw the people rushing in 
the direction of the street where her child lived, 
and she followed the crowd. On nearing the place 
she saw the smoke and flame from a burning house ; 
it was the one where her daughter resided. The 



JUSTIFICATION 119 

fire engines came dashing up ; the police were 
keeping the surging crowd at a safe distance. But 
nothing can keep back love ! The mother rushed 
through, right into the house, and up-stairs into 
her daughter's room, found her in a faint, threw 
her arms about her, and carried her down the stairs 
into the street. Then the mother swooned away, 
overcome with her tremendous exertion. 

The girl, recovered from her faint, and looked 
at her mother lying prostrate. The mother's heart 
fluttered feebly, then ceased to beat — she was dead! 
Looking upon her dead mother's face, the poor 
girl's voice broke forth in a piercing cry, " Mother, 
O mother ! — then you did love me, and I did not 
believe it ! " 

In that dead form, the daughter at last read the 
love of a mother who had 

LOST HER LIFE TO SAVE HER's 

And you, my hearers, learn in the dying Saviour, 
crucified on Calvary, oh learn the wondrous love of 
God to you. As you look upon the blessed Son of 
God upon the tree, can you doubt the heart of God 
— the love that gave Him for you ? Aye, and be 
assured of this, that not only has God given His 
blessed Son for you, but that He finds His delight 
in your salvation, in making you truly happy, in 
bringing you to Himself to share the joys of the 
glory-home forever. God's own heart is the source 
of the sinner's blessing. 

(2) The Ground of Justification. — Why should 
God have given His Son for us ? For two reasons 
— to give us a perfect expression of His love for us, 



120 JUSTIFICATION 

and to meet the just judgment of sin. It is plain, 
therefore, that if God is holy He must judge sin. 
Suppose that a prisoner has been convicted of wil- 
ful murder, but instead of passing the death sen- 
tence upon the criminal, the judge says to him, 
"Notwithstanding the true verdict of the jury, the 
court does not sentence you — you are discharged." 
What, think you, would the on-lookers say ? What 
would the whole people say? The judge would 
probably be dismissed from the Bench as unworthy 
and incompetent to act in a judicial capacity. And 
is God less than man ? Methinks some people 
would fain make Him so, judging by what they say. 
They tell us that God is too merciful to judge sin. 
My friends, let me bring this truth home to you — 
that whilst there is now mercy for sinners, there 
never was, and never shall be, mercy for sin. God 
can have 

NO MERCY UPON SIN. 

He is just and holy, and must judge it. Was there 
mercy for Christ in those hours of darkness at Cal- 
vary? None. What meaneth His soul-agonizing 
cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken 
Me ? " He was there made the sin-bearer, and 
God can have no fellowship with sin ; therefore His 
countenance was turned away from Him who, in 
wondrous grace, was there the sin-bearer. There 
was no mercy even for Jesus when He was under 
God's judgment for our sin. 

Let me remark, too, that God's judgment upon 
sin is eternal. Those who deny it are ignorant 
both of God's holiness and of the true character of 



JUSTIFICATION 121 

sin in His sight. We read in God's word of " eter- 
nal judgment." 1 Only the Son of God could meet 
and sustain that judgment ; and in love for men 
God gave Him to do this. In view of this our Lord 
Jesus exclaimed, "Father, save Me from this hour!" 
and at once He adds, "but for this cause came I 
unto this hour." 2 If God had judged my sin 
on me, I must have been eternally lost! What 
sinful man is there who could face the full force of 
divine judgment against sin and not be crushed 
beneath it ? There is none. The eternal Son, who 
became man, He only could and did. He, in the 
glory of His person, has on the cross met the full 
tide of divine judgment against sin. David, by the 
Spirit, speaks of it thus : "All thy waves and thy 
billows are gone over me." 3 Truly, 

WHAT A STORM WAS THAT AT CALVARY ! 

Never one like it before or since — when the 
heavens refused to shine, and the earth was man- 
tled in darkness, 4 and Jesus took that terrible cup 
of judgment from the Father's hand, and drained 
it, O fellow-believer, to the last dark drop for you 
and me. 

The work of the Cross is the ground of our justifi- 
cation; as we read, "Justified by His blood." 5 God 
has been so perfectly glorified by the death of Jesus ; 
His truth has been so vindicated ; His holiness so 
maintained, that the way is opened in righteous- 
ness to bestow His choicest blessings upon us who 
come to Him in the name of Jesus. 

1 Heb. 6:2. 2 John 12 : 27. 3 Ps. 42 : 7. 
4 Matt. 27: 45. 5 Kom. 5: 9. 



122 JUSTIFICATION 

A literary lady once said to me, after a gospel 
preaching she had attended: "I am surprised, Mr. 
Edwards, that you should talk so much about such 
a common thing as blood" Poor soul! she evidently 

thought it vulgar. I could only reply : ' ' Miss , 

what you call common, God calls precious ; and it is 
my boast. I glory in the blood of Jesus! " Thank 
God that, through grace, I rest upon it. The 
atoning death of Jesus has glorified God and met 
my need. It has opened the way for the believer 

TO THE GLORY OF GOD. * 

God must be consistent with Himself; how, then, 
can He be righteous and bless a sinner ? The 
Cross answers the question. He has judged sin on 
Jesus, and God is free in righteousness to bless. 
We can sing with the poet — 

"On Jesus' cross this record's graved; 
Let sin be judged, but sinners saved." 

At the moment of the Saviour's death God rent 
the veil of the temple from top to bottom, thus show- 
ing that He was free to come out to man to bless; 
and that, as blest, man could go in to Him. The 
"top" signifies heaven; the " bottom," the place 
where we are. He comes down to the bottom, 
where we are, and takes us up 

TO WHERE HE IS. 

What good news — and all through the blood of 
Jesus! Have you yet met with God in this blessed 
way ? It is a blood-sprinkled place, where a right- 
eous God and a ruined sinner can meet. And, when 
x Heb. 10: 19-22. 



JUSTIFICATION 123 

they meet, the righteous God can righteously pour 
into the ruined sinner's ear the sweet story that all 
his guilt has been put away by the blood of His 
Son, and that He lives now in the glory as our 
representative there. 

This then is the gospel He has entrusted to His 
servants, " To declare at this time His (God's) 
righteousness : that He might be just, and the 
justifier of him which believe th in Jesus." 1 God 
is just, and the justifier. 

An aged, bed-ridden woman, once said to a vis- 
itor, in reply to an enquiry as to her hope for 
eternity: "I am resting in the justice of God." 
The visitor was astonished, and ventured to sug- 
gest that the woman should say "the mercy of 
God," instead of His justice. "Well," said the 
aged saint, " 'tis the justice of God I rest on; for 
has He not said He is just and the justifier of him 
that believeth in Jesus ? " Oh, that all who have 
already believed in the Lord may thus 

REST IN THE JUSTICE OF GOD ! 

Should some not understand it, let me try to 
explain. Where is the Saviour to-night ? He is at 
God's right hand. Who set Him there ? God has, 
in answer to the Saviour's redemption work. God, 
who bruised Him for us on the cross, has raised 
Him from among the dead, and seated Him upon 
the throne. Was it righteous on God's part to raise 
and enthrone Jesus ? Yes, a thousand times, yes; it 
was perfectly just for God to do so. I go further, 
and say, It would have been unrighteous not to 

1 Kom. 3 : 26. 



124 JUSTIFICATION 

have raised and glorified Him who had so perfectly- 
glorified God about sin. The self-same Hand of 
Justice that wounded Him for us on the cross, was 
the very hand that set Him on the throne and 
crowned Him with glory. 

Now mark what I am going to say: it is just as 
righteous for God, on the ground of the atonement, 
to justify the man that believes in Jesus, as it was 
righteous for Him to place our blessed Saviour in 
glory. Oh, magnificent, soul-emancipating truth! 

Let me ask another question: Would God be just 
in consigning the rejector of His Son to an eternal 
hell? Yes, He would. Now, "through the re- 
demption that is in Christ Jesus/ ' it is just as right- 
eous for God to place the man that believes in His 
Son in heavenly glory for ever, as it would be for 
Him to shut up the rejector of His grace in hell for 
ever. "God is just, and the justifier of him who 
believeth in Jesus." 

(3) The Character of Justification, — In the Book 
of Acts we read : "By Him (Jesus) all that believe 
are justified from all things." 1 And in the epistle 
to the Romans, "Being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ,,2 
We see from these verses that the believer is now 
exonerated from all charge of guilt. What a re- 
lief to the conscience to be able to say, My sins are 
gone for ever. Christ "was delivered for our 
offences, and was raised again for our justifica- 
tion." 3 Well may the heart exclaim: 

"what hath god wrought ! " 
x Acts 13 : 39. 2 Rom. 5:1. 3 Rom. 4 : 25. 



JUSTIFICATION 125 

I have often tried to get an illustration of justi- 
fication, but have failed. I'll give one by way of 
contrast. Suppose a man is arrested for a criminal 
offence. At his trial, evidence is called on his side 
which indisputably establishes his innocence. At 
the conclusion of the case, the judge addresses him 
thus: "You are proved innocent, and you leave the 
court without a stain upon your character. " Thus 
he is justified — but as an innocent man, for he never 
was guilty. But God's justification is not of the 
innocent, but of the guilty — which we are. But bear 
in mind that it is by the precious blood of Christ. 

We read in the epistle to the Romans that "a 
man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the 
law." 1 This means that faith is the principle on 
which God justifies. 

Some people have a great difficulty in what 
they call "reconciling" this verse in Romans with 
James 2: 24, where we read: "Ye see, then, how 
that by works a man is justified, and not by faith 
only," but 

THEY NEED NO RECONCILIATION, 

for the simple reason they have never conflicted. 

If you will read James 2 carefully, you will see 
that the Holy Spirit speaks there of justification 
before men, not before God; this is where the be- 
liever's works come in — as a proof of the genuine- 
ness of his faith. Faith can only be seen by God. 
The fruit of it, good works, can be seen by our 
fellows ; and this is what the epistle of James 
means, when it says, "Show me thy faith without 

^om. 3: 28. 



126 JUSTIFICATION 

thy works ; and I will show thee my faith by my 
works." Paul treats of justification before God, not 
before men; and he brings in faith — not works. 

Both Paul and James take up the case of Abra- 
ham. Paul says Abraham was justified by faith; 
James tells us he was justified by works. The for- 
mer was before God, and the latter before 7nen. I 
may remark that Abraham's works, of which the 
epistle of James speaks, took place several years 
after he had been justified by faith, as recorded 
in Genesis 15 and Romans 4. 

In closing, let me once more appeal to the un- 
saved. My friends, do come to God now. Come, 
pleading the death of Jesus for you — He will re- 
ceive you — He will find His joy in it. Will you 
receive Christ? On His part, He has said, "Him 
that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." 1 It 
was said of Him, "This Man receive th sinners ! " 2 
and 'tis true of Him to-day. 

Does that drunkard enquire if the Lord will re- 
ceive him ? The Saviour answers : 
"Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
Does that pleasure-seeking worldling enquire ? 
Jesus saith, 
"Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
Does that religious but unconverted man en- 
quire ? The Lord answers, 
"Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
My friends, the Lord turns away none who come 
to Him. Come, then; come now, and you shall be 

Uohn 6; 37. 2 Lukel5;2. 



JUSTIFICATION 127 

forgiven, justified, and saved for ever, then you 
also shall be able to sing : 

"On the Lamb my soul is resting ; 
What His love no tongue can say: 
All my sins, so great, so many, 
In His blood are washed away. 

Sweetest rest and peace have filled me, 
Sweeter praise than tongue can tell ; 

God is satisfied with Jesus, 
I am satisfied as well." 



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